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Product Description
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Lagnado's captivating account of her family's life in cosmopolitan Cairo and painful relocation to America centers on her beloved father. Dashing man-about-town Leon Lagnado, who kept to his carousing ways even after marrying a beautiful women 22 years his junior, was enraptured at the age of 55 by the author, his fourth child; affectionately called Loulou, she became her father's companion, even at temple services and the Nile Hilton bar. But the Suez war in 1956 and the Nasser regime's cultural holocaust began forcing Jews from their native Egypt. Leon's injury in a fall and Loulou's mysterious illness (first diagnosed as cat scratch fever, eventually found to be something far worse) delayed the Lagnados' departure until 1963, when they arrived in New York with $212, the maximum they were allowed to take out of Egypt; and Leon, once a prosperous, independent businessman and investor, was reduced to selling ties on the street. In Lagnado's accomplished hands, this personal account illuminates its places and times, providing indelible individual portraits and illustrating the difficulty of assimilation. An exceptional memoir. Leber, Michele
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Review
“Beautifully written.... A great personalized telling of Egypt’s complicated history in the last half of the 20th century.” (Fareed Zakaria )
“Like André Aciman...she conjures a vanished world with elegiac ardor and uncommon grace.” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times )
“[A] crushing, brilliant book…one final kiss from the Lagnados to their beloved city.” (New York Times Book Review )
“This memoir of an Egyptian Jewish family’s gradual ruin is told without melodrama by its youngest survivor.” (The New Yorker )
“The resilient dignity of Lucette’s family transcends the fiercest of obstacles.” (Los Angeles Times Book Review )
“Lagnado gets to the heart of the modern exodus in a way only those who lived it can.” (Miami Sun Post )
“Captivating…illuminates its places and times, providing indelible individual portraits...An exceptional memoir.” (Booklist (starred review) )
“Excellent new memoir… One could praise Ms. Lagnado’s book for many things.” (New York Sun )
“Full of emotion and longing, yet never sentimental, this lyrical memoir evokes a cosmopolitan Cairo.” (Jewish Woman )
“Lagnado spares nothing in the retelling…in this tender and captivating memoir.” (The Oregonian (Portland) )
“It succeeds especially as a... heartfelt elegy to the long-lost Cairo community of her youth.” (Library Journal )
“Nostalgic but objectively tempered portrait of a family at the heart of social and cultural upheaval.” (Kirkus Reviews )
“Beautifully written . . . rich with history and insight. Wonderful.” (Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE )
“A stunning achievement.” (Andre Aciman, author of OUT OF EGYPT and CALL ME BY YOUR NAME )
“A subtle and eloquent description of fatherly love and a mesmerizing portrait of a man shattered by the immigration experience.” (Marianne Pearl, author of A MIGHTY HEART )
“Lagnado’s richly textured memoir is a loving tribute to a lost man and a lost culture.” (Reform Judaism )
“Like André Aciman...she conjures a vanished world with elegiac ardor and uncommon grace.” (Michiko Kakutani, New York Times )
“[A] crushing, brilliant book…one final kiss from the Lagnados to their beloved city.” (New York Times Book Review )
“This memoir of an Egyptian Jewish family’s gradual ruin is told without melodrama by its youngest survivor.” (The New Yorker )
“The resilient dignity of Lucette’s family transcends the fiercest of obstacles.” (Los Angeles Times Book Review )
“Lagnado gets to the heart of the modern exodus in a way only those who lived it can.” (Miami Sun Post )
“Captivating…illuminates its places and times, providing indelible individual portraits...An exceptional memoir.” (Booklist (starred review) )
“Excellent new memoir… One could praise Ms. Lagnado’s book for many things.” (New York Sun )
“Full of emotion and longing, yet never sentimental, this lyrical memoir evokes a cosmopolitan Cairo.” (Jewish Woman )
“Lagnado spares nothing in the retelling…in this tender and captivating memoir.” (The Oregonian (Portland) )
“It succeeds especially as a... heartfelt elegy to the long-lost Cairo community of her youth.” (Library Journal )
“Nostalgic but objectively tempered portrait of a family at the heart of social and cultural upheaval.” (Kirkus Reviews )
“Beautifully written . . . rich with history and insight. Wonderful.” (Oscar Hijuelos, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of THE MAMBO KINGS PLAY SONGS OF LOVE )
“A stunning achievement.” (Andre Aciman, author of OUT OF EGYPT and CALL ME BY YOUR NAME )
“A subtle and eloquent description of fatherly love and a mesmerizing portrait of a man shattered by the immigration experience.” (Marianne Pearl, author of A MIGHTY HEART )
“Lagnado’s richly textured memoir is a loving tribute to a lost man and a lost culture.” (Reform Judaism )
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Many immigrant Jews will relate to it, especially those from a middle-eastern background,
By
This review is from: The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (Paperback)
Apparently, this is an excellent book! Everybody's had the chance to read it but me! One of my relatives couldn't put it down, read it from front to back until 3:00 a.m.I am the next person in line, and looking forward to it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.5 out of 5 stars (102 customer reviews) 71 of 73 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Griping Family Sage and wonderful slice of history,
By J. Smart - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (Hardcover)
The Man in the White Sharkskin suite is a stunning work, in it's emotional depth against a period of history I knew little about. The author/narrator tells the story of her family, particularly her father, as they thrive in Egypt under King Farouk, then, literally overnight, lose their material possisions, family and promience but not their humanity and dignity when Nassar comes to power. Their 'before' life was vibrant and full materially, but emotionally fraught with tensions of all sort especially between the husband, Leon and the wife, Edith. The author uses the point of view of the youngest member of the family, Loulou who can barely understand what's happening but acts bravely for her father's sake and for his love. The author writes beautifully, and with such poignancy, but never with self pity or malicious anger regarding the family's fall. By the time the family arrives in America, they are completely lost as they stand on the dock watching the big cars go down the West Side Highway. The great symbol of American prosperity, yet the cars and the dream they represent pass the family by. They never regain the life they longed for, except in the success of Loulou who becomes an award winning journalist and now author. I feel that Leon would be thrilled that, against his advice to this daughter to find a 'little job', she found her calling and restored the family legacy and told the greater story, through the Lagnado saga, of the history of Egyptian Jews of that time.A wonderful read. 52 of 56 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartbreakingly beautiful,
By Peter Bloch - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit: My Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (Hardcover)
I was at that reading also, and purchased another copy of the book (my third!) for my daughter. Lagnado's story of her family's incredible history in Egypt and then the heartbreaking exile they endured, ending in Brooklyn where her father, old and seemingly defeated, probably saves her life with one last almost magical invocation of his old powers of persuasion is inspiring and tragic at once. After reading this beautiful book, it's clear where Lagnado's passion as an investigative reporter to expose corruption and the indignities we too often heap upon the elderly was born.
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding,
By groupworker - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Man In The White Sharkskin Suit: A Jewish Family's Exodus from Old Cairo to the New World (Paperback)
This is my favorite book of the year. It combines all of my interests - Jewish history, family struggles, impact of culture, and so much more. The author spent her early years in Egypt and the family was forced out by anti-semitism. While in Egypt, they lived a glamorous life for many years, but with a father whose moods ranged from loving to abusive. From there they entered a generation of poverty. The writing is beautiful. Too often personal memoirs seem to wane 1/2 way through, but this book continued to engage me and I really didn't want it to end.
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