In This Business with Elijah, Oberman focuses on the wor!d of 11-year-old Danny Stein, his relatives and neighbors, through a series of interconnected stories set in 1961.
Most of the action takes place on corner on or near Main Street; although Oberman uses fictional names for the movie theater, butcher shop and fashion store he writes about, it's worth buying this book just to see how many real North End locations you can de- cipher. The marvellous cover by Winnipeg artist Elaine Halpert is another bonus: it shows Danny Stein looking at the mannequins in his parents' clothing store, as clouds and sky are reflected in the window.
A!though This Business with EIijah captures the multi-cultural flavor of the North End at least as well any other work of fiction, it's far more than just another sentimental tribute to that part of Winni- peg.
Oberman's first book for adult readers, it shows literary sophistication and a sensitivity toward the plight of blue collar workers that's reminiscent of John Steinbeck. In his use of shifting points of view, where the same set of events is seen through the eyes of different characters, the author shows the kind of craftsmanship displayed in the 1950 classic Japanese film, "Rashomon".
Oberman's has noted that much of a fiction writer's material is based on childhood memories, and he's at his best when writing about young Danny Stein and his family.
Perhaps the most unforgettable and fun- niest scene crops Up in "This Business with Elijali", the first story in the collec- tion. Danny, his parents, relatives and a neighbor have sat to an annual seder in his baba's apartment on McGregor Street.
Here and in other passages, Oberman mentions senses that add immediacy to his writing.
"Danny" describes standing in the apartInent lobby and smelling her herring, bubbling comed beef and boiling chicken. "These were Baba smells. Knock on her greasy brown door. Listen for her Baba sounds." Shortly after the seder ceremony begins and a guest uncovers the matzoh, "Baba was already pushing it to the side along with the ceremonial herbs and salt water, mak- ing room for supper ... before Mr. Werner could sing of the writhing rod of Moses and the Pharoah's broken will, Baba burst through with a flood of soup and roast, sweet chicken and stewed fruit, cutting off Exodus entirely."
That scene wiIl undoubtedly trigger a flood of memories for many Jewish readers recalling their own family seders.
In other stories, Oberman explores the sexual passions, jealousies, secrets and ambitions of his colorful characters.
There's "Rita", the attractive, sex-hungry waitress at the Iocal diner and "Dean", the frustrated young husband working at the local butcher shop and dreaming of becoming a rock star. There's "Mr. Werner", the old Jew from Warsaw who scrapes out a living as a carpenter in a shop behind Danny's parents' store; there's Danny 's father, "Murray", a well-meaning but rough-edged weightlifter based partly on one of Oberman 's uncles; and among others, there's "Kari Anshelm", the operator of the Iocal movie theatre, who has a hidden Nazi past.
Oberman shows impressive knowledge of Jewish history and folklore, drawing on stories ranging from the legend of Elijah to the culture of medieval Spanish Jewry and the Kabbalah.
Sometimes his writing style seems overly ambitious - he occasionaily overdoes the metaphors, similes and adjectives, when a simpler description is called for. And at times, he has his characters say things that make them sound more eloquent and educated than their backgrounds suggest. Those reservations aside, This Business with Elijah is an entertaining masterpiece of shortstory writing, and present and former Winnipeg Jews, in particular, will find it a gratifying read.