The Gates of November

Jacket Description/Flap: "REMARKABLE . . . A WONDERFUL STORY."--The Boston Globe The father is a high-ranking Communist officer, a Jew who survived Stalin's purges. The son is a "refusenik," who risked his life and happiness to protest everything his father held dear. Now, Chaim Potok, beloved author of the award-winning novels The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev, unfolds the gripping true story of a father, a son, and a conflict that spans Soviet history. Drawing on taped interviews and his harrowing visits to Russia, Potok traces the public and privates lives of the Slepak family: Their passions and ideologies, their struggles to reconcile their identities as Russians and as Jews, their willingness to fight--and die--for diametrically opposed political beliefs. "[A] vivid account . . . [Potok] brings a novelist's passion and eye for detail to a gripping story that possesses many of the elements of fiction--except that it's all too true."--San Francisco ChroniclePublisher Marketing: "REMARKABLE . . . A WONDERFUL STORY".--The Boston GlobeThe father is a high-ranking Communist officer, a Jew who survived Stalin's purges. The son is a "refusenik", who risked his life and happiness to protest everything his father held dear. Now, Chaim Potok, beloved author of the award-winning novels The Chosen and My Name is Asher Lev, unfolds the gripping true story of a father, a son, and a conflict that spans Soviet history. Drawing on taped interviews and his harrowing visits to Russia, Potok traces the public and privates lives of the Slepak family: Their passions and ideologies, their struggles to reconcile their identities as Russians and as Jews, their willingness to fight--and die--for diametrically opposed political beliefs."[A] vivid account . . . [Potok] brings a novelist's passion and eye for detail to a gripping story that possesses many of the elements of fiction--except that it's all too true".--San Francisco Chronicle Review Citations:

Library Journal Prepub Alert 07/01/1996 pg. 88 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Booklist 09/01/1996 pg. 32 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 10/28/1996 pg. 71 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Kirkus Reviews 09/15/1996 pg. 1383 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Library Journal 11/01/1996 pg. 90 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Booklist 11/01/1996 pg. 480 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

New York Times 12/01/1996 pg. 33 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Wilson Public Library Catalog 01/01/1997 pg. 107 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Wilson Public Library Catalog 01/01/1998 pg. 709 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Library Journal 07/01/1996 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Library Journal 11/01/1996 (EAN 9780394588674, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Potok, Chaim Chaim Potok was born and raised in New York City. He began to write fiction at the age of 16, graduated summa cum laude with a B. A. in English literature from Yeshiva University, and earned a Ph. D. in philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania. An ordained rabbi, he served as an army chaplain in Korea for sixteen months with, successively, a front-line medical battalion and an engineer combat battalion. His first novel, The Chosen, was nominated for a National Book Award and received the prestigious Edward Lewis Wallant Award. His other novels include My Name is Asher Lev, The Gift of Asher Lev (winner of the National Jewish Book Award), and I Am the Clay.