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May 16, 2020JAL49 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is one of my all-time favorite novels - I even bought a photograph at a street fair after reading the book because I thought the man in the photo looked just like I imagined Leo Gursky, the protagonist of this beautiful story. Leo just felt completely real to me - an aging New York City curmudgeon with a past that involves an escape from Poland during WWII. Alternately funny and heart-wrenching. Chapters alternate between Leo’s story and Alma’s (a young girl trying to figure out her own background), and though their stories interest eventually, it’s Leo’s voice that haunts you.