These four­teen sto­ries by the acclaimed mas­ter of Jew­ish-Russ­ian fic­tion are set in the for­mer USSR, West­ern Europe, and Amer­i­ca. Din­ner with Stal­in fea­tures Sovi­et Jews grap­pling with issues of iden­ti­ty, accul­tur­a­tion, and assim­i­la­tion. Shray­er-Petrov explores aspects of anti­semitism and per­se­cu­tion, prob­lems of mixed mar­riages, dilem­mas of con­ver­sion, and the sur­vival of Jew­ish mem­o­ry. Both an author and a physi­cian, Shray­er-Petrov exam­ines his sub­jects through the dou­ble lens­es of med­i­cine and lit­er­a­ture. He writes about Russ­ian Jews who, hav­ing suf­fered in the for­mer Sovi­et Union, con­tin­ue to cul­ti­vate their sense of cul­tur­al Rus­sian­ness, even as they and espe­cial­ly their chil­dren assim­i­late and increas­ing­ly resem­ble Amer­i­can Jews. Shray­er-Petrov s sto­ries also bear wit­ness to the ways Jew­ish immi­grants from the for­mer USSR inter­act with Amer­i­cans of oth­er iden­ti­ties and creeds, notably with Catholics and Mus­lims. Not only lovers of Jew­ish and Russ­ian writ­ing but all dis­crim­i­nat­ing read­ers will delight in Din­ner with Stal­in and Oth­er Stories.

Relat­ed Content

• Read­ing List: Russian/​Soviet Jewry
• The UnAmer­i­cans by Mol­ly Antopol
• Oth­er Books by Max­in D. Shrayer

Read David Shray­er-Petrov and Max­im D. Shray­er’s Posts for the Vis­it­ing Scribe

A Fic­tion­al Mod­el of the For­mer USSR: Part 1 of a 3‑Part Conversation

A Jew­ish-Russ­ian Writer as New Eng­lan­der: Part 2 of a 3‑Part Con­ver­sa­tion

Cryp­to-Jews and Auto­bi­o­graph­i­cal Ani­mals: Part 3 of a 3‑Part Con­ver­sa­tion