You Should Pity Us Instead

Marked by a sure grasp of unusual subject matter and unfurling in gorgeous prose, the stories in “You Should Pity Us Instead” explore some of our toughest dilemmas: the cost of Middle East strife at its most intimate level, the likelihood of God considered in day to day terms, the moral stakes of family obligations, and the inescapable fact of mortality. Also, fundamentally, love in its many guises-family, romantic, friendship-each ensnared by rigorous demands and responsibilities. In the scary and heartbreaking "All the Sons of Cain," an Israeli woman sneaks into Gaza to reclaim her captive son from militants. In the title story, two families-one Atheist, the other Christian-confront the limits of their beliefs. "Goldene Medene" takes us to 19th century Ellis Island, where a doctor evaluates immigrants and, in blue chalk, marks his life-changing verdicts on their backs. Amy Gustine exhibits an extraordinary generosity toward her characters, instilling them with a thriving, vivid presence. “You Should Pity Us Instead” presents an artist of dynamic and capacious vision, one who can delineate the heart's most strenuous knots, and one capable of inhabiting most any life, no matter how disparate or obscure.