David Stevens is a retired professor and attorney. This Memoir is a
compilation of his blogs from 2009 to 2021. While not a complete
autobiography, it presents a coherent picture of his life and family. As
a secular Jew turned atheist, Stevens participates in both the
alienation and integration of his people. While he could be said to have
participated in the American Dream, rising from the working poor to the
upper middle class through education, he also feels elements of an
American nightmare, having been affected by alcoholism and domestic
abuse. From the title essay: "My maternal grandmother, Etta Felger
Brock, was born in Ukraine in 1905. Over the next ten years her entire
family emigrated to America, eventually settling in Milwaukee. Her
father, David Felger, went first alone in 1910. Etta's older sisters
Fannie and Rose went next in 1913. In 1914 her mother Sylvia Stelnick
Felger followed with Etta, her younger sister Katie, and her younger
brother Morey (Moishe). They spoke mostly Yiddish at home, although they
naturally spoke Ukrainian. They were close enough to Poland that they
spoke fluent Polish as well. For political reasons they felt it wise
also to speak Russian. In the long run it was a very good thing they
left when they did; following World War II there were no Jews left alive
in their village (Ustylúh), including the relatives who died because
they would not or could not leave. In my imagination it looks like the
end of 'Fiddler on the Roof', although I doubt there was any musical
accompaniment or any turntable."
