Excellent learning/teaching tool. Great for teachers or students. Set up in a workbook format. Good as a "refresher" course as well.

This is an excellent book to read about the life of Casimir Pulaski who was a hero in the Revolutionary War. Pulaski was from Poland, yet came over to America to help fight against England. There is a monument and a fort named in his honor in Georgia. Best read by 4th graders and older. Middle School students would enjoy the book and read it easily. The cover of book offers a nice visual for early elementary students during a study of Pulaski's life.

Not even sure how I came to this book --think I read a review in The New York Times..but so glad I found it!... I thoroughly enjoyed Jack Pulaski's style of writing and the emotional depth of his characterizations. To borrow a phrase from the book jacket --there is incredible intensity in his writing and I felt real glimmers of Philip Roth (and Henry Roth's work) in this book. Look forward to his future work and totally recommend it to anyone who wants to capture a bit of mid-century NYC...Also, like the short story style that makes each chapter a separate story in itself.

Pulaski's portrayal of family life in Brooklyn is masterful. By seamlessly incorporating Yiddish-English dialect into his prose and describing both cityscapes and internal psychological landscapes in painstaking detail, Pulaski draws me into most of his stories.

I thought that the stories depicting his wife's side of the family fell flat, took confusing turns, and were generally less believable. The early sexual experiences of a young girl and the inner workings of this other family seemed to me beyond his knowledge, and thus beyond his considerable ability.

All in all, it's worth reading and I look forward to reading more by this author.