Criticism > Short Story Criticism > Dybek, Stuart - Thomas S. Gladsky (essay date summer 1995)

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Thomas S. Gladsky (essay date summer 1995)

SOURCE: Gladsky, Thomas S. “From Ethnicity to Multiculturalism: The Fiction of Stuart Dybek.” MELUS 20, no. 2 (summer 1995): 105-18.

[In the following essay, Gladsky examines Dybek's expressions of his Polish heritage in his fiction.]

The new world culture and old country heritage of approximately fifteen million Americans of Polish descent are among multicultural America's best kept secrets. Historically a quiet minority, they have been eager to acculturate, assimilate, and melt into the mainstream. One of the consequences of this has been a failure to acquaint other Americans with Polish culture—its history and literature—or to establish a recognized ethnic literary tradition. This is not to say that there is not a Polish presence in American letters. From the 1830s and the arrival of the first significant body of Polish emigrés, primarily officers exiled after the 1831 uprising...

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1. Introduction
2. Principal Works
3. Criticism
   1. Kirkus Reviews (review date 1 November 1979)
   2. Robert Ward (review date 1980)
   3. Bruce Cook (review date 13 January 1980)
   4. Phoebe Lou Adams (review date February 1980)
   5. Howard Kaplan (review date 23 May 1980)
   6. David Kubal (review date autumn 1980)
   7. Alice Bloom (review date summer 1987)
   8. Stuart Klawans (review date April 1990)
   9. Antioch Review (review date fall 1990)
   10. Kirkus Reviews (review date 15 February 1990)
   11. Don Lee (review date spring 1991)
   12. Terry Caesar (review date summer 1991)
   13. David Montrose (review date 26 July 1991)
   14. Thomas S. Gladsky (essay date 1992)
   15. Thomas S. Gladsky (essay date summer 1995)
   16. Jorge Febles (essay date fall 1996)
   17. Stuart Dybek with Mike Nickel and Adrian Smith (interview date winter 1997)
   18. Don Lee (essay date spring 1998)
4. Further Reading
5. Copyright