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Sherwin B. Nuland
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Lost in America: A Journey with My Father Paperback – March 9, 2004

by Sherwin B. Nuland (Author)
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A writer renowned for his insight into the mysteries of the body now gives us a lambent and profoundly moving book about the mysteries of family. At its center lies Sherwin Nuland’s Rembrandtesque portrait of his father, Meyer Nudelman, a Jewish garment worker who came to America in the early years of the last century but remained an eternal outsider. Awkward in speech and movement, broken by the premature deaths of a wife and child, Meyer ruled his youngest son with a regime of rage, dependency, and helpless love that outlasted his death.

In evoking their relationship, Nuland also summons up the warmth and claustrophobia of a vanished immigrant New York, a world that impelled its children toward success yet made them feel like traitors for leaving it behind. Full of feeling and unwavering observation, Lost in America deserves a place alongside such classics as Patrimony and Call It Sleep.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    224 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    March 9, 2004
  4. Dimensions
    5.19 x 0.51 x 8 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9780375727221
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0375727221
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Riveting. . . . A classic second-generation immigrant memoir. . . . A great book, full of feelings and memories that ring true.” --The New York Times Book Review

“A tale with universal resonance. . . unsparing, deeply felt and searching.” --Los Angeles Times Book Review

“Intensely attuned to small gestures of suffering and consolation, Nuland studies his family . . .with pained, humane attentiveness. A supremely gentle book.” --San Francisco Chronicle

“Remarkable. . . . A tragic portrait that is both terrible and beautiful in its clarity.” --Seattle Times

From the Inside Flap

A writer renowned for his insight into the mysteries of the body now gives us a lambent and profoundly moving book about the mysteries of family. At its center lies Sherwin Nuland?s Rembrandtesque portrait of his father, Meyer Nudelman, a Jewish garment worker who came to America in the early years of the last century but remained an eternal outsider. Awkward in speech and movement, broken by the premature deaths of a wife and child, Meyer ruled his youngest son with a regime of rage, dependency, and helpless love that outlasted his death.

In evoking their relationship, Nuland also summons up the warmth and claustrophobia of a vanished immigrant New York, a world that impelled its children toward success yet made them feel like traitors for leaving it behind. Full of feeling and unwavering observation, Lost in America deserves a place alongside such classics as Patrimony and Call It Sleep.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0375727221
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group; Reprint edition (March 9, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780375727221
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0375727221
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.3 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.19 x 0.51 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Sherwin B. Nuland

Sherwin B. Nuland

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Sherwin B. Nuland is Clinical Professor of Surgery at Yale University School of Medicine and a Fellow at Yale's Institute for Social and Policy Studies. He is the author of over ten books, including the National Book Award-winning, HOW WE DIE: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter, an inquiry into the causes and modes of death that spent 34 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list. In addition he is a contributor to leading publications including the New Yorker, the New Republic, and the New York Review of Books.

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
83 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

D. Chun
5.0 out of 5 stars Find "Lost in America"...you won't regret it.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2010
Verified Purchase
Sherwin B. Nuland is a medical doctor who has written a number of good books on medically-related topics. Another one of his books on how humans die ("How we Die") is fascinating and not at all what you might expect--it actually focuses on the importance of appreciating and living one's life before death. "Lost in America" is Nuland's attempt to secure an understanding of his immigrant father, rather than the escape he long sought as a young man. With unflinching realism, honest assessments, and just enough humor to balance the text, Nuland movingly portrays his love/hate relationship with his father as he grows up in a Jewish section of the Bronx through his father's solitary death after Nuland has become a physician.

An epigraph before the text reads: "Be kind. Everyone you meet is fighting a great battle." It reflects Nuland's attempt to understand others in general, and his father specifically. The end of the book may not be what the average reader expects, but reflects Nuland's ongoing quest to find understanding. For anyone who is struggling to work out a father/son relationship or simply wants to "understand" as a means to heal, this is a great book. I have re-read it several times and highly recommend it.
3 people found this helpful
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Henry's Mom
4.0 out of 5 stars Touching and wonderful
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2020
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I am parsimonious with 5 stars. This isn’t a work of literary genius but I genuinely loved this book. As a caveat, I tend to like personal stories that are well-written plus Dr. Nuland has a fascinating story. They are a poor Jewish immigrant family living in a crowded space with multiple family members. The father works in the garment district and has a mysterious debilitating disease that the author figures out when he’s in med school. It’s poignant and life is generally difficult. But Dr. Nuland (originally Noodleman) succeeds in medicine as well as an author.
2 people found this helpful
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Doug
5.0 out of 5 stars A heart wrenching story of a difficult childhood overcome.
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2015
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This was a very candid account of the author's personal and family life growing up in the East Bronx in the 1930's and 1940's. He and his immigrant family had a difficult time adjusting to and growing up in America, particularly his father. While at times it is not easy to read because of their harsh reality, Dr. Nuland overcame it and he spares nothing in rendering this account of his early life.
One person found this helpful
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L. A. Seals
3.0 out of 5 stars Not about his father
Reviewed in the United States on October 8, 2015
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Sherwin Nuland has an easy style of writing which is very pleasant to read. This book is entertaining , but is not about his father really. It is about his life as a young person and then a young adult. Often the writing gets carried away, and the story gets left behind. Altogether a disappointment and a book that could have been half as long.
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Ruth Fenner Barash
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful find of a book
Reviewed in the United States on November 11, 2013
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An amazing, heart-warming story without an ounce of sentimentality. At once a book about family, a Bildungsroman, and a picture of a city and a time long gone. Dr. Nuland is a graceful writer, a scientist, and a true humanist. After reading this book, I immediately went looking for his other works.
Ruth Fenner Barash, author of For Better or Worse: Lurching from Crisis to Crisis in America's Medical Morass
2 people found this helpful
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doctor
4.0 out of 5 stars loved it
Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2011
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I loved it! I wonder how he made it successfully through such a hard life. The relationship with his father is described very touchingly. And his deep descent into depression, and how he overcame it.
One person found this helpful
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S. N. Rivera Burgos
5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful book!
Reviewed in the United States on August 19, 2008
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This is the story of a father and a son and four other close family living in one small apartment in the Bronx. The lives of these Russian Jewish immigrants spanning the early to late 20th century. The story is razor blade truthful. It must have been very difficult to write but beautiful. The book begins with the quote by Philo of Alexandria "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle". How true!
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Lucky1
1.0 out of 5 stars Uggh
Reviewed in the United States on December 12, 2007
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Trying to understand the multiple stars this book received by others.
An ungrateful son berates an immigrant father and in spite of his self-hating persona perseveres to become a physician. All ego, and lacking compassion, this is not my type of writer or physician.
5 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Theodor Ickler
5.0 out of 5 stars Fesselnd
Reviewed in Germany on January 12, 2018
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Man liest diesen fesselnden Bericht über eine Kindheit und Jugend mit dem Wissen, daß der Verfasser später an schwersten Depressionen litt. Dennoch ist es, wie auch die anderen Bücher Nulands, kein Buch, das den Leser seinerseits bedrückt zurückläßt. Es gehört in die Reihe der klassischen Werke ("Anton Reiser" usw.), die zeigen, daß es auch unter unerträglichen familiären Verhältnisssen immer irgendwie weitergeht und Hoffnung besteht. Nachdem der junge Nuland, wie er gesteht, seinen Vater hassen gelernt und seinen Tod herbeigewünscht hat, gelangt er auf schmerzhaftem Weg zum Erbarmen mit dem geschundenen Mann und mit den Menschen überhaupt, wie wir aus seinen anderen Werken wissen.
Darüber hinaus zeigt es exemplarisch die immer noch prekäre Situation (ost)jüdischer Einwanderer in den USA und erinnerte mich an "Half Jew" von Susan Jacobi.
Natürlich ist Nuland auch ein großartiger Schriftsteller. Jedenfalls versteht er es, den Leser völlig in diese Geschichte des kümmerlichen Überlebens einer Familie in der Bronx hineinzuziehen.
One person found this helpful
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Elaine B.
5.0 out of 5 stars A truly capturing book (LOST IN AMERICA)AJOURNEY WITH MY FATHER.
Reviewed in Canada on September 25, 2015
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Very interesting book, riveting, could not put the book down!!!
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Joe's Lass
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 17, 2015
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THis book will be read again and again. reminds me so of my childhood.
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