Said Sayrafiezadeh

Radicalism of any stripe tends to make people less compassionate - their ideology takes the place of real human relationships. This is shown in Sayarfiezadeh's memoir, as his dyed-in-the-wool communist parents are so self-involved and immersed in the world of the Party that they give little thought to how to raise their son. Amazingly, Sayrafiezadeh seems to emerge from the twin childhood traumas of neglect and indoctrination relatively psychologically unscathed. The narrator's politics seem to end up muddled - he has no strong opinion about communism; in fact, he doesn't even know what it is.… (mais)

This is a collection of short stories that focus on young men who are treading water in their lives, dealing with entry-level jobs, mothers dying of cancer and a general inability to have things go smoothly. But Saïd Sayrafiezadeh also fills these stories with ordinary pleasures and glimpses of hope; a man remembers when his mother buys him a shirt at Goodwill that gives him credibility at his new school or a young man stuck in a dead end job meets a girl he likes. Sayrafiezadeh doesn't mind making the reader uncomfortable or uncertain. He's writing about the working class, the marginalized and the discontented. And the stories are quietly perfect, from the clear and unobtrusive writing, to the way the author creates vivid settings within a single paragraph. This book reminded me of why I love short stories so much, that when they are well-crafted, they contain entire lives in single moments.… (mais)