Off Paradise: Stories

By Hart Wegner

Martin, the central character of Hart Wegner's powerful short-story cycle, is a middle-aged German emigre who has found a home, of sorts, in the isolated and often surreal setting of contemporary Las Vegas. Exiled at the end of World War II with his parents from their beloved Silesia, the family struggles to come to terms with the turmoil of history and memory while they cope with the challenges of assimilation in an alien setting.

In stories that range from the Nevada desert to the lost world of prewar Silesia, Wegner explores, through the perspectives of Martin, his aging parents, and their small circle of fellow emigres, the intricate tapestry of the exile experience--childhood recollections of the vast and fertile plains of East Germany and the shelter of comfortable and loving homes, memories of the horrors of war, the guilt and terror and despair of displacement, the frustrations of finding one's way in a new and alien culture, the precious ties of family and longtime friendship. And most of all, loss--the loss of home; of an identity formed by an ancient language, the details of a shared culture, and a common sense of past and of future; of loved ones; and finally, and most tragically, of memory itself.

Wegner's characters are vividly and bravely human, bitter, tender, despairing, and full of hope. And ever-seeking a new home, a new place in which to belong after their long sojourn in the wilderness. The inner world of the exile has never been examined with such sympathy, such clarity, or such eloquence.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0874174864
• ISBN13: 9780874174861
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: University of Nevada Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Bittersweet read

Hart Wegner's collection of short stories, 'Off Paradise' covers familiar ground (exile, loss of identity) with a new twist. These well-crafted stories center around Martin, middle-aged German immigrant to the United States who struggles to come to terms with his past and future. An self-proclaimed 'exile' from the province of Silesia, Martin wanders between worlds: the glitzy and superficial realm of his adopted home, Las Vegas and that of his cherished birthplace, draped in the veil of nostalgia. After WWII, the mixed territory of Silesia was given to Poland; its German inhabitants were forced into exile. Many chose Germany, while others the new world. Martin's parents opted for the later, giving up Europe and its secure walls of tradition and continuity for the boundless horizons of the American West. Caught between cultures, Martin must walk a delicate tight rope. His dying parents dredge up bittersweet memories of a world they had to escape, a world which Martin longs to recover. Imprisoned amidst the subdivisions, car parks and strip malls of the American city, Martin feels like the odd phantom, alive, but not quite. No longer European, and never to become fully American, Martin finds solace in the company of other strangers, fellow exiles from the old country. Martin's closest companion---never quite clear just how close---is Ala, an elderly friend of the family who keeps Martin's 'Silesian' identity alive with her bitter memories...the advance of the Russians, the panic-ridden escape to the west and Auschwitz, where Ala survived a short tour of hell. The third party to Martin's world is Jozefa, his neighbor both in the old world and in the new. She is Polish and Catholic, Martin, German and Lutheran, silent enemies from the past who support each other in their common alienation. Wegner's stories flow together like one long journey into a rememberance of things past, together with their painful comparison with things present. Wegner is at his best when he concentrates on the small details: Martin's mother making dishes from the old country that don't taste like they should. Something's missing. Something that Martin strives to recapture, a taste of the past which will provide identity and belonging. Rare is the writer who can competently master a language not his/her own. Wegner has attainted that mastery. His raw, unadorned prose mirrors both the openness of the new world and the density of the old. Often times a bit heavy, his sentences are melancholy, but never maudlin. The exile's loneliness and confusion is always stark and severe. But Martin's touching memories prevent 'Off Paradise' from being a collection of dreary dirges of isolation. With his sympathetic characters and lyrical style, Wegner repaints Thomas Wolfe's trademark, 'you can't go home again,' with a palette of refreshing colors.