Product Details
My Name Is Aram (Capuchin Classics)

My Name Is Aram (Capuchin Classics)
By William Saroyan

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Product Description

First published to international acclaim in 1940, this is a collection of semiautobiographical stories about a boy of Armenian descent called Aram Garoghlanian and is set in Fresno, California. The book is like a novel in that the stories all involve the same character and are placed in a roughly chronological order; the first story takes place when Aram is nine years old, the last when he is a young man leaving his hometown for the first time. From bickering grandparents presiding over a family meeting to the time the circus came to town, each episode vibrates with warmth and humor, building a rich portrait of Aram’s large family and of the immigrant experience in general. This utter delight of a book is as easy to read today as it was when it was published almost 70 years ago.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #133042 in Books
  • Published on: 2009-09-01
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 160 pages

Features

Editorial Reviews

Review
Book of 14 interconnected short stories by William Saroyan, published in 1940. The book consists of exuberant, often whimsical episodes in the imaginative life of young Aram Garoghlanian, an Armenian-American boy who is the author's alter ego. -- The Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature

Review
"He has written so charmingly about his immigrant forebears that we are not only glad ours are Americans... but wish they too had been Armenian."--Georgia Review

From the Publisher
William Saroyan's most celebrated work of short fiction- a boy's view of the American Dream. Aram Garoghlanian was a Californian, born in Fresno on the other side of the Southern Pacific tracks. But he was also part of a large, sprawling family of immigrant Armenians--a whole tribe of eccentric uncles, brawling cousins, and gentle women. Through these unforgettable, often hilarious characters Aram comes to understand life, courage, and the power of dreams. Whether it is fierce Uncle Khosrove who yells "Pay no attention to it" in any situation, Uncle Melik, who tries to grow pomegranate trees in the desert, or angelic-looking Cousin Arak who gets Arma into classroom scrapes, Aram's visions are shaped and colored by this turn-of-the-century clan. Like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, William Saroyan's brilliant short stories in My Name Is Aram work together to create a picture of a time, a place, and a boy's world-a truly classic account of an impoverished family newly arrived in America-rich in matters of the heart.

"He has written so charmingly about his immigrant forebears that we are not only glad ours are Americans... but wish they too had been Armenian."--Georgia Review

Customer Reviews

My Name Is Aram4
I am a high school student, and we read an excerpt from this book in our literature class. I immediately was intrigued by Saroyan's method of writing and the fact that his novels are autobiographical. This is a story of Aram Garoghlanian, a boy living in Fresno with his large family of Armenian immigrants. Throughout the book, such ideas are touched upon as maturity, honesty, and acceptance. My Name is Aram is a portrait not only of Aram Garoghlanian and William Saroyan himself, but Americans in general. Americans struggle with basic values and ideas everyday, and accepting our eccentric family members is something we learn to do. Saroyan describes small details in hi writing that bring the story to life and open up a new world. Readers will soon realize when they open this novel that each of us holds Aram inside us, whether it means we struggle with the idea of stealing a horse or keeping the families reputation. I strongly recommend this book to anyone.

Excellent book5
The book is composed of different events that happened in the author's life. It is the life of an Armenian immigrant family in the beautiful San Juaquin Valley. Although, the story is about events that are happening in a particular Armenian family, in reality it is the life all immigrants in America. The stories some how effects all Americans. I am positive that some where in our lifetime we were criticized for a certain cultural trait. It is the story of the ultimate underdog who is determined to succeed. At the same time it is a very fun and easy book to read. I could not put the book down.

Saroyan has to be the best writer to come out of the West. He should have been recognized more for his genius work.

My name is Aram5
This is a nice small book of short stories which offers a pleasing weekend or evening read. Book is about a young boy by name Aram Garoghlanian and his family, Armenian immigrants living in Fresno, CA. It describes Aram's adventures during his early teenage years and events happening in his great and proud tribe of Garoghlanians.

Book is base on episodes of the author's childhood, and the characters of Aram's tribe are based on real individuals, Saroyan's relatives. The book is sensitive and pleasant, and each of the 14 chapters, is written as a separate short-story.