Point of View

The author most often uses the narrative "I" in these stories and closely parallels the author's own life. He is a struggling Yiddish writer trying to get a foothold in America after fleeing the Holocaust. Cleverly, this use of the authorial "i" lends an element of credibility to strange stories from strange lands within the Eastern European Jewish diaspora. When the narrator describes all the characters of the Yiddish subculture such as abbis, beadles, Yeshiva students, and businessmen, the depictions seem very life-like and authentic.

Another point of view in some stories, such as The Destruction of Kreshev, is that of Satan himself who declares his powers of destruction and goes about the business of proving himself, as both participant in and narrator of the story. "I am the Primeval Snake, the Evil One, Satan," begins The Destruction of Kreshev. The devil also serves double duty...