"Another one of those books that sat on the shelf way too long. The true saga of the Gordon family from the end of WWII through 1992. The parents leave New York City for Long Island and their baby boomer children deal, with varying levels of success, with coming of age during the Vietnam war, and the rise of drugs, psychotherapy, feminism, yogis and other signs many interpreted as harbingers of the end times. Remarkable portrait of a family and lessons learned the hard way. "

"“Home Fires�. By Donald Katz (originally published in 1992, reissued and updated in 2014), is the true story of a middle-class American family from 1945 to 1990 “and beyond�, and it reads like a novel.

Starting with Samuel Goldenberg’s return from WWII to a wife he hasn’t seen in three years and a daughter he’s never met, Katz takes us on a compelling journey through the last half of the twentieth century. As a “boomer� I was especially interested in the ways the Goldenbergs (who change their name to Gordon) mirrored my own family, as well as the ways it does not.

Propulsive, educational, and a bit of a time machine, this documentation of the Gordon family’s joys and sorrows, highs and lows, challenges and failures, elicited empathy and understanding from this reader.

It’s worth noting that “the breakdown of the American family� is STILL being blamed for all our cultural “ills�.

Bottom line: plus ça change plus c'est la même chose! (The more things change, the more they stay the same!)
"

"Listening to newly released audio at the moment - very moving for me as this is my family. I've read the book twice. The first time I noticed all the errors and inconsistencies. The second time I was fascinated and delighted to have such a wonderfully detailed record - the likes of which few people are so lucky to have. Listening to the audio now that both Eve Gordon (my dear Nanny) and Lorraine (my mom) are no longer alive (Lorraine died this year, quite suddenly) is tremendously moving and I've been crying my way through it - in my car, while cleaning the bathroom, or cooking dinner. I can't judge this work objectively - it's too close to me and my life and the "characters" who people it are too dear to me, but I'm enjoying every moment this time, hearing things I completely missed the first two times, and am immensely grateful to Don Katz for making this available in a new format. "