Teitlebaum's Window

Welcome to Brighton Beach of the 1930s and early '40s as filtered through Simon Sloan, from youth to would-be artist-as-a-young-man at Brooklyn College to the eve of his induction into the army. Wallace Markfield perfectly captures this Jewish neighborhood—its speech, its people, its unique zaniness.

But like any masterpiece—Joyce's "Dubliners" comes readily to mind—"Teitlebaum's Window "both survives and expands upon its time and place. While remaining rooted in the specifics of its own wor...