Patchwork of Dreams: Voices from the Heart of the New America

Give this joyous compilation to anyone who questions the unique quality of America's ethnic diversity. Editors Sklar and Barbato (a PW contributing editor) joined forces to bring together works that reflect both ethnic and artistic diversity by focusing on the work of current and former residents of the borough of Queens. ""Why Queens?"" asks Barbato in the preface. ""Because it is the most ethnically diverse area in the United States.... This book is a literary evocation of a place and a time."" The poems, stories, photographs, a novel chapter, interviews and a scene from a play are beautifully arranged; like a skillful patchwork quilt, the colors and moods flow smoothly from entry to entry. It opens with a poignant poem by Joan Dobbie, which freezes in time her first three days as a new American citizen in 1948: ""I was thin as a waif, just two and a half."" It leads into ""Danny's Girls,"" by Indian-born Bharati Mukherjee about a boy's infatuation with a beautiful Nepalese ""princess."" Most impressive is ""Bliss Street,"" a short story by Thomas E. Kennedy, a simply heartbreaking rendition of two small boys and their parents' loveless union. Photographs of Queens people and places are interspersed throughout, adding contrast and immediacy. (Sept.)