Boris Fishman
A Replacement Life: A Novel
The Chaim Kempner Author Series
$12; $10 Members/Students with ID/Seniors

In his exuberant debut novel, Boris Fishman gives us an original look at the immigrant experience and a deeply personal exploration of his Soviet legacy. This is the story of Slava Gelman, a failed journalist who becomes the “Forger of South Brooklyn,” faking Holocaust restitution claims for aging Russian Jews in New York.  In the tragicomic literary tradition of Malamud, Bellow and Roth, Boris Fishman’s hero wrestles with the question of how he can honor his elders if their new country has upended their very definition of honor.

Boris Fishman came to the U.S. from the former Soviet Union at the age of nine. Before turning to fiction, he forged an impressive career writing for The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, New Republic and Wall Street Journal, among others. This is his first novel.

Supported by the Chaim Kempner Library Fund, the Chaim Kempner Author Series brings authors of recently published books to the DCJCC for the learning and enjoyment of the entire community.