Sonia Pressman Fuentes
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Book Reviews
- Whole Living Journal, March-April, 2005
- feministplanet.com, 2003
- Bella Online, July, 2003
- Womensradio.com, May, 2003
- The Story Circle, July 2002, reprinted in Ms. Magazine online
- The Compulsive Reader, July 2002
- Rabbi Sam Silver, Congregation L'dor Va-dor, July 2002
- Midwest Book Review, April 2002
- Sarasota Herald-Tribune, March 17, 2002
- C. Penn "WordWeaving," amazon.com, March 15, 2002
- Michael Fein, editor of Gantseh Megillah, January 2002
- Chadashot, August, 2001
- Women's Books Online, First - Third Quarter, 2001
- Unions Today, July 2001
- Inscriptions, June 2001
- 5thmoon.com, May 2001
- totallyjewish.com, May 2, 2001
- Syracuse New Times, April 11-18, 2001
- Holt Uncensored, January 16, 2001
- Miami Magazine, Fall 2000
- Ofrah's Jewish Book Club, May 2000
- Der Bay, March 2000
- Shalom, February 2000
- Becky Barbour, June 3, 2000
- Bridge Works Publishing, January 2000
- Go-mom.com
- US Times Bestseller List
- Straight from the Heart, 1999
Excerpts from Eat First -- You Don't Know What They'll Give You
- Jewish Geography -- this story was first published in October 1998 in Der Bay, the newsletter of the International Association of Yiddish Clubs. Here, both the English version and a version in transliterated Yiddish are available in pdf format.
- Return to Germany -- the story of Sonia’s return to Germany in 1978 to speak about the women’s rights revolution in the US for the then-US Information Agency (USIA), published on the website of The Jewish Writing Project on Jan. 19, 2009. That story is also contained in the anthology, Marking Humanity, Stories Poems, & Essays by Holocaust Survivors, edited by Shlomit Kriger (Aug. 23, 2010, pp. 226-234).
- If You Speak His Language --This piece was published in Tzum Punkt (Nov.-Dec. 1999, Vol. 1, No. 2) p. 5, the newsletter of Yiddish of Greater Washington.
- Thai Silk -- This piece was first published in the Common Law Lawyer and then on the websites of whispersmagazine.com, iagora.com, and BankgokAtoZ.com (September 2001).
- Florida
and Beyond -- This excerpt appeared on May 25, 2001, in
the Story Lady e-newsletter and on its website,
the Jewish Frontier, the Jewish Internet magazine, the Jewish Magazine online, the e-zine, Home-Based Working Moms, and the Writer Online.
Terry Boothman, the editor of the Writer Online,
had this to say about it in the January 14, 2003, issue that
carried the story:
Everyone's life is interesting, right? Sure. So, everyone should write a memoir, right? Yeah, why not.. And everyone should publish a memoir, right? Good Lord, no. Because not everyone knows how to write a publishable memoir, which means a memoir that lots of other people will enjoy reading. Sonia Pressman Fuentes, one of the founders of the National Organization for Women, published just such a memoir--"Eat First--You Don't Know What They'll Give You, The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist Daughter." Now, in How I Got My Mink Stole, excerpted from that memoir, you can get a glimpse of exactly how good memoirs are written.
- Weinberg's Glasses - the story of what happened when Sonia's father found a pair of eyeglasses.
- Sex Maniac -- the story of the Second Wave of the women's movement and Fuentes' role in it.
- Harry Golden and "the Coat" -- Sonia Fuentes sues Harry Golden, published in Jewish Currents, June 16, 1997.
- How I Got My Mink Stole -- a lengthy struggle with an unexpected denouement.
- Eating Out -- published in the April 11, 2001, issue of Writer's Bloc Online, the e-newsletter of the National Writers Union.
- Graduating With My Class -- Fuentes' desire to graduate with her high school class has a significant consequence. Published originally in the Catskill/Hudson Jewish Star 6.2 (June 1996) 17.1 and then on Harry Leichter's website.
- Mother and the Night School -- published in the December 2001, issue of Kolot, A World of Jewish Voices.
- Catskills Stories -- Some of Fuentes' stories about her experiences in the Catskill Mountains of New York State may be found at the Museum of Family History.
Buy the Book
Eat First -- You Don't Know What They'll Give You, The Adventures of an Immigrant Family and Their Feminist Daughter by Sonia Pressman Fuentes
Book Ordering Information
In the United States, EAT FIRST can be ordered in paperback and hardback from amazon.com, bn.com, and xlibris.com. The book can be ordered from amazon.co.uk in the UK and amazon.ca in Canada. EAT FIRST is also available for Kindle which includes free wireless delivery via Amazon Whispernet.
Book Review
Women's Books Online, First - Third Quarter, 2001
Third Quarter, 2001
Many times books that are self-published are difficult to wade through and are a task to read. This book was a delightful exception to the general rule.
Sonia Pressman Fuentes was a leader in the post-1950's women's movement in the United States and one of the founders of NOW (National Organization for Women) These stories give the reader more insight into the beginnings of the movement, but it is much more than that.
It is a collection of the author's autobiographical memories from a fascinating life, character sketches and short stories which are insightful, entertaining, and usually humorous.
There are many memorable sayings that came from Sonia Pressman Fuentes parents. The title of the book is one of those but one of my personal favorites was from her mother about sports. One day her mother observed Sonia's interest in a football game.
"I don't understand," she said, "What do you get when they win?"
I didn't know the answer then and I haven't been able to come up with a satisfactory answer ever since. Whenever I'm tempted to go to a game of any sort, my mother's question comes to mind -- and I stay home.
I highly recommend this book as interesting on several levels. It starts with the family's exodus from Nazi Europe, experiencing prejudice for being Jewish, her determination to become a attorney when this was not a typical role for women, her aforementioned experiences with her family, background of the women's movement from her perspective as an activist, and the demands of raising a daughter, and character sketches of some of the people whose paths crossed hers.
This was a book that was very difficult to set down and an enjoyable read. Highly Recommended
This review first appeared in the "Women's Books Online" section of Webmist.com