DREAMS OF ISTALIF AND OTHER STORIES

Needle’s interconnected book of short stories follows two very different young Jewish Americanmen’s travels, misadventures, and childhood reminiscences.

The first and third sections of this book deal with the life of civil engineerVictor Rebanni, either following him directly or dealing with his family history. The middle section concerns an unconnected character—a high school English teacher named Dan Luminov. Victor’s first section is primarily concerned with his time in Asia, including when he was part of the Peace Corps in the 1960s. These tales effectively evoke the atmospheres of Thailand (“The Sun God's yellow eye still warmed the mango trees as shadows appeared along the water”), Afghanistan (“Early spring wildflowers blanketed the lower steppes of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley”), and other countries that Victor visits, and his adventures throughout feel engaging and authentic. Dan is a less nuanced character—his stories ricochet between his youth and his seedy activities in the present, although one chapter in which his father visits him in Tucson, Arizona, is quite poignant as it limns the fumbling connection they form. Dan’s tales also switch back and forth from third person to first, which can be confusing. Victor’s and Dan’s strong connection to their Jewish identities is communicated perceptively through their reflections on their present circumstances as well as their memories of their younger days; this aspect is further developed in the third section, which follows a series of Victor’s ancestors. In the end, Dan’s stories don’t feel like they mesh well with the rest of the book, especially as the final section returns to Victor. The narrative might have been better served by focusing on the Victor throughout and would likely have been even more effective if it were reconstructed into a novel.

An uneven but occasionally insightful compilation, hampered by a disjointed structure.