The gates of November : chronicles of the Slepak Family / Chaim Potok.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Potok, Chaim.

Contributor:

Lingeman, Anthea.

The Library of Chaim Potok (University of Pennsylvania)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Slepak family.

Slepak, Solomon, 1893-1978--Family.

Slepak, Solomon.

Slepak, Vladimir, 1927-2015.

Slepak, Vladimir.

Slepak, Mariya.

Slepak, Solomon, 1893-1978.

Jews--Soviet Union--Biography.

Jews.

Families.

Soviet Union.

Jewish communists--Soviet Union--Biography.

Jewish communists.

Refuseniks--Biography.

Refuseniks.

Genre:

Biographies.

Penn Provenance:

Potok, Adena (donor) (Potok Collection copy)

Physical Description:

18 unnumbered pages, 252 pages, 4 unnumbered pages : portraits ; 24 cm

Edition:

[Uncorrected proof].

Place of Publication:

New York : Alfred A. Knopf : [Distributed by Random House, Inc.], 1996.

Summary:

From the author of The Chosen and My Name Is Asher Lev comes an epic work of nonfiction chronicling the stormy lives of a Jewish father and son whose stories span the entire history of the Soviet Union. Solomon Slepak, an inflexible old-guard Bolshevik - military commander, diplomat, propagandist - not only miraculously survived the murderous purges of the thirties and late forties, despite his high visibility and his Jewish origins, but retained to the last his unwavering faith in the Communist Party. His son, Volodya, was raised as a true believer and easily entered the elite Moscow world of scientists and engineers - until, choosing the path of dissent, he became an internationally renowned "refusenik" hero. For eighteen years he and his wife, Masha, were the objects of government persecution for the "crime" of attempting to leave the Soviet Union - five of those years lost in Siberia as punishment for hanging a banner from the balcony of their Moscow apartment which read "Let us go to our son in Israel". The circumstances that shaped Solomon and Volodya Slepak - their personal and public histories and the clash of their ideologies - form the substance of this remarkable account of a family and a nation. Chaim Potok, who first met the younger Slepaks when they were still under siege in Moscow, tells their story with deep understanding and empathy.

Contents:

Prologue: A meeting in Moscow

The Father: The fire bringer; The wildcat in the garden; Cutting down the forest

The Son: The enemy within; The radio in the forest; Journeys; The visa war; The amulet

Epilogue: Telephone calls.

Notes:

"This is an uncorrected proof. It should not be quoted without comparison with the finished book."--Cover.

"Publication date: November 1996. With 13 photographs. First printing 30,000 copies."--Cover.

"This is a Borzoi Book published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc."

Page numbers wanting on contents page.

"Designed by Anthea Lingeman."

Red wrapper lettered in black.

Includes bibliographical references pages [249]-253.

Local Notes:

Potok Collection copy presented to the Penn Libraries by Adena Potok.

Potok Collection copy has underline, grammatical marks and yellow post-it on page 52

ISBN:

0394588673

OCLC:

1030848508