My Mother's Son

On the eve of his retirement from his radio show, Joel recalls his youth as a 10-year old growing up in post—World War II Boston; his older brother, Steven; important adults in his life; and events that impacted his world. The Korean War, the polio epidemic, and the Boston Braves all affected his childhood. Highly evocative of a time and place, Hirshberg's detailed narrative vividly depicts 1950s Jewish family life and kids' freedom to move throughout the city. Meanwhile, Joel looks back with an awareness of how adults communicated their versions of the truth. Short chapters propel the plot and range from the serious ("Kristalnacht, they said, they all knew about Kristalnacht," about Uncle Jake and Auntie Rose's escape from Nazi Germany) to the lighthearted ("Serendipity is an instrument that we can never learn to play").