ThesefourteenstoriesbytheacclaimedmasterofJewish-RussianfictionaresetintheformerUSSR,WesternEurope,andAmerica.DinnerwithStalinfeaturesSovietJewsgrapplingwithissuesofidentity,acculturation,andassimilation.Shrayer-Petrovexploresaspectsofantisemitismandpersecution,problemsofmixedmarriages,dilemmasofconversion,andthesurvivalofJewishmemory.Bothanauthorandaphysician,Shrayer-Petrovexamineshissubjectsthroughthedoublelensesofmedicineandliterature.HewritesaboutRussianJewswho,havingsufferedintheformerSovietUnion,continuetocultivatetheirsenseofculturalRussianness,evenasthey--andespeciallytheirchildren--assimilateandincreasinglyresembleAmericanJews.Shrayer-Petrov’sstoriesalsobearwitnesstothewaysJewishimmigrantsfromtheformerUSSRinteractwithAmericansofotheridentitiesandcreeds,notablywithCatholicsandMoslems.NotonlyloversofJewishandRussianwritingbutalldiscriminatingreaderswilldelightinDinnerwithStalinandOtherStories.
