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Schocken

My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner: A Family Memoir

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Description

From the author of the acclaimed novel A Pigeon and a Boy comes a charming tale of family ties, over-the-top housekeeping, and the sport of storytelling in Nahalal, the village of Meir Shalev’s birth. Here we meet Shalev’s amazing Grandma Tonia, who arrived in Palestine by boat from Russia in 1923 and lived in a constant state of battle with what she viewed as the family’s biggest enemy in their new land: dirt. Grandma Tonia was never seen without a cleaning rag over her shoulder. She received visitors outdoors. She allowed only the most privileged guests to enter her spotless house. Hilarious and touching, Grandma Tonia and her regulations come richly to life in a narrative that circles around the arrival into the family’s dusty agricultural midst of the big, shiny American sweeper sent as a gift by Great-uncle Yeshayahu (he who had shockingly emigrated to the sinful capitalist heaven of Los Angeles!). America, to little Meir and to his forebears, was a land of hedonism and enchanting progress; of tempting luxuries, dangerous music, and degenerate gum-chewing; and of women with painted fingernails. The sweeper, a stealth weapon from Grandpa Aharon’s American brother meant to beguile the hardworking socialist household with a bit of American ease, was symbolic of the conflicts and visions of the family in every respect. The fate of Tonia’s “svieeperrr”—hidden away for decades in a spotless closed-off bathroom after its initial use—is a family mystery that Shalev determines to solve. The result, in this cheerful translation by Evan Fallenberg, is pure delight, as Shalev brings to life the obsessive but loving Tonia, the pioneers who gave his childhood its spirit of wonder, and the grit and humor of people building ever-new lives. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Schocken; Reprint edition (January 2, 2018)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 080521240X


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 02


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.8 ounces


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.22 x 0.57 x 7.95 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #772,913 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #471 in Historical Middle East Biographies #3,843 in Author Biographies #22,295 in Memoirs (Books)


#471 in Historical Middle East Biographies:


#3,843 in Author Biographies:


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • Beautifully written memoir
Warm, amusing, lyrical. Shalev loves his family and it comes through in this gentle and meandering memoir of his visits to his grandparent's moshav in the early pioneering days of Israel's birth as a nation. His grandmother receives a vacuum cleaner as a present from a brother in America. It is a monumental present and one that cannot be taken lightly. The gift is central to Shalev's story and he weaves his memories around the effect that it has on his grandmother and her obsession with keeping her house spotless. Magical and fanciful to the end - I smiled all the way through! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2013 by Lucy O'Finner
    • Shows all of us have some level of dysfunction and we learn to embrace it and love it.
Loved the quirky but realistic family dynamics with all the characters and it took me back to those days years ago full of layered relationships in my own family across four generations. Great book for a Jewish themed book club. Our book club loved the book. Easy read and many themes to pick up and discuss. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2023 by Deborah Hammond
    • The story of Grandma Tonia and her "swipper"
The plot of the novel takes place in the 20ies of the last century in Palestine. A young Russian Jewish settler, her complete aversion to any home of dirt and dust, and intricate procedures that she developed to uphold cleanliness in the house, are depicted by Meir Shalev, a famous Israeli writer, her grandson. Place, where the Jewish pioneers "moshavniki" lived, is all clay and marshland; however, the Zionist spirit took precedence over neurosis inhereted by immigrants from Europe. The heroine Tonya Ben-Barak and her never-ending battle against dirt, has been heartily and humorously described in this novel. In this fascinating chronicle, along with competing and sometimes apocryphal family legends, history and fiction have joined together. The book, "My Russian Grandmother and her American Vacuum Cleaner " is a fascinating English translation from Hebrew, representing a masterpiece by itself. In further reading, Tonya accepted the pioneer spirit and contributed to the flourishing of the Jewish homeland. She is a disciplined worker who expects from everyone else living on the farm, including animals, such an effort. Chicken, which puts too few eggs, is risking to appear in the menu for Saturday dinner. Tony's life could have been very different if she had emigrated to America as her husband's brother Aaron, Yeshayahu, did. Alas, this did not happen: Tonya remains committed to the Jewish dream; and, as any stubborn personality needs an enemy, her enemy is the dirt. Tonya's own house, where the everyday life is intertwined with the fighting dirt and dust, and where even her family aren't allowed , a mythical object is hidden in backrooms. The object remains a mystery even for her children for many years. The General Electric Vacuum Cleaner that had been shipped from Los Angeles by a brother of her husband, a successful American businesman, represents a core, around which the main intrigue is revolving. Sequentially opening the secret of the vacuum cleaner, the author takes the reader along, describing the characters and events in elaborate, full of irony language. The story of Grandma Tonia and her "swipper" is written in the genre of a family detective, where all are to stay alive. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2015 by Allis K.
    • We all know someone like this grandmother
I enjoyed every word of this brilliant book. It is so human, so real. Meir Shalev always shows humour in his work but this book had me laughing our loud. And I loved the insight into the history of moshavim like Nahalal - the refusal to take money from a rich uncle and the uncle`s hilarious revenge; the gossip and the way the horse led the cart with the vacuum cleaner the long way round the circle of houses so that everyone would see and hear it. And also the pathos, the conflicts. I would recommend this book to everyone who who has a sense of humour and particularly those who have forgotten those pioneers who were the salt of the earth ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2013 by Wendy Blumfield
    • GOOD STORY TELLER TELLING GOOD STORY
The author is a good story teller and comes from a family of good story tellers but it is hard to relate to the story and it is not particularly amusing to read about this mean Grandmother.
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2012 by Mari Lyn
    • Don't miss this one!
I loved this book and enjoyed reading something that made me chuckle and uplifted. Having lived in Israel for many years, I could relate to the trials and tribulations that occurred in building a thriving community. The war against dirt is hilarious and brought back memories. I loved hearing about Meir Shalev's family and history. His reflections on family stories, what is "truth", points of view, family dynamics still linger with me. After reading this book, I spoke to my oldest grandchild about what he knew about me, his grandmother. I encouraged him to ask questions, so that he could be the future story teller in our family and keep memories alive for the five other grandchildren. The translator of this book should receive kudos. This book read like poetry. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2014 by Tobey L. Grand
    • An entertaining memoir of early life in Israel, from the perspective of one, particular Russian grandmother.
This is an entertaining memoir of a particular set of immigrants, into early Israel, before and after the establishment of the State, and how they coped with a fairly difficult life and times. It is indeed a family memoir centering around the matriarch, a particularly strong willed, Russian grandmother, and how she coped with the early times of living in Israel. It is written from the perspective of her descendants, all of whom chose to stay and live in Israel, though they could have gone elsewhere. It is an entertaining book because of the idiosyncrasies of the main characters, which may well be non-fictional and more lifelike than not. It is an entertaining book, though not quite spellbinding but humorous at times. If you cannot live without reading more and more about Israel and its people, then this is a worthwhile read but you are not going to learn a lot more than you probably already know from previous books on the same subject. It is a quick and fun read. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 31, 2014 by Ira Krull

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