My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner
A Family Memoir

The cover of the English translation of this book does not do it justice. I went in thinking it would be a lighthearted look at an eccentric relative. Instead, it was a deep homage to a woman who came in the Third Aliyah to Palestine from Ukraine, before there was an Israel. It’s about her, the land......more

Najosobnejšia Shalevova kniha, v ktorej s veľkou láskou a pochopením rozpráva o svojej babke Toni, dedkovi Áronovi, strýkoch, tetách a všetkom tom krásne nepochopiteľnom, čo sa dialo kdesi ďaleko v izraelskom Nahalale. Pri spoločnom rodinnom čítaní som si veľakrát spomenula na svoju babičku, moju mam......more

Meir Shalev’s הדבר היה ככה (which means "The thing went this way" and not) "My Russian Grandmother and Her American Vacuum Cleaner" is a playful exploration of family, history, and the unexpected. At its core is the arrival of a colossal, chrome-plated vacuum cleaner, a gift that ignites both wonder......more

Meir Shalev is a fabulous writer and in this very funny and endearing memoir, he tells the story of his obsessively clean grandmother, Tonia, in relation to an American GE vacuum cleaner sent to her by her double traitor brother living in California. It is the story of Shalev's youth, of life on a mo......more

After my first travel to Israel, somebody recommended me to read Meir Shalev. Trusting the good taste of Israeli people (delicious food by the way) I accepted the suggestion and chose this novel. I was immediately surprised by its hilarious irony, melt with a tender point of view on family and histor......more