The Melting Pot

Lynne Sharon Schwartz. Penguin Books, $8.95 (240pp) ISBN 978-0-14-011381-5

``This skillful collection reconfirms Schwartz's keen ear for dialogue and astute, multilayered portraiture of people and places,'' wrote PW. The author, ``whose hallmark is realistic, recognizable characters, here explores the fluid tenuousness of identity . '' (Jan.)

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