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

Book 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…

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Why read it?

1 author picked My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Meir Shalev is a witty, funny author who writes in his own distinctive style. This little book is most charming. It is based on family stories, focusing on Shalev’s grandmother Tanya. At the centre is the “svieeperrr” she received from her brother-in-law who immigrated to Los Angeles, instead of Israel, and succeeded in business. The successful capitalist sent her this vacuum cleaner because he was well aware of Tanya’s main enemy in life, the dirt, and because he knew that Aharon, his socialist brother, could not return this machine to him. It was too big. The proud Aharon refused to…

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