The UnAmericans

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ENGLISH PEN DEBUT FICTION PRIZE

LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

‘The UnAmericans’ is a debut story collection of great poise

A former dissident from Communist-era Prague fears his daughter’s new play will cast him in an unflattering light. A divorced dry cleaner tries to move on, bemused by his daughter’s reawakened faith. A Hollywood actor is imprisoned by the House Un-American Activities Committee and has a fraught reunion with his son. A young Israeli journalist, left unemployed after America’s most recent economic crash, begins dating a middle-aged widower. And in the book’s final story, a tour de force spanning three continents and three generations of women, a young American and her Israeli husband are forced to reconsider their marriage after the death of her art-collecting grandmother.

This collection is a stunning exploration of characters shaped by the forces of history. Each finely turned story presents a different, morally suspenseful problem. Arranging and resolving these problems, Molly Antopol writes with an orchestral richness, in fiction that is intricately but delicately composed. But ‘The UnAmericans’ is remarkable as much for its heart as its sophistication: each voice is humane, full of warmth and wit; each page brims with a love of life. The result is a debut collection with the power not only to absorb and thrill, but to move.

Reviews

‘Sometimes melancholy, often witty and always absorbing, these subtle stories of flawed humanity are a delight’ Observer

‘”The UnAmericans”, is poised to be this year’s sensation. The layered riches and historical sweep of its stories make them feel grand, like novels writ small … Antopol appears to be at the beginning of an illustrious career’ Esquire

‘Like individual novels, these stories appeal, satisfy and delight … They’ll make you nostalgic, not just for earlier times, but for another era in short fiction … A beautiful and appealing collection’ Meg Wolitzer, NPR

‘A writer of seismic talent’ Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of ‘The Orphan Master's Son’

‘These are incredible short stories and even a dip into them is rewarding’ Stylist, ‘Books of the Year’

‘“The UnAmericans” is Molly Antopol’s debut book and that’s amazing; she has the skill of an experienced writer and the emotional clarity of a much older woman’ Emerald Street

‘The stories in American writer Molly Antopol’s debut collection are satisfyingly interlinked … She excels at drawing a particular type of male character: the interloper, the cuckold, the nebbish.’ Independent on Sunday

About the author

Molly Antopol is a recent Wallace Stegner Fellow in fiction at Stanford University, where she currently teaches as a Jones Lecturer. Her short stories have appeared in numerous American publications, and she has received special mention in ‘Best American Short Stories’. Her essays and reviews appear in the ‘San Francisco Chronicle’, ‘The Rumpus’ and NPR’s ‘This American Life’. She lives in San Francisco and Tel Aviv.