RaveMoment... as disquieting as the book may be, it’s also extremely well-written and engaging, sustained throughout by Horn’s inimitably intelligent and lively voice ... The dead Jews Horn writes about—and the ways they are remembered, particularly in the media and popular culture—aren’t limited to Holocaust victims or those targeted in Pittsburgh or Poway or Jersey City. The book interweaves its chapters on those subjects with others. One of my favorites is Horn’s dispatch from Harbin, China, which once boasted a thriving Jewish community and now sustains a Jewish population of one—alongside an unsettlingly artificial \'Jewish Heritage Site.\' Ultimately, wherever Horn trains her ultra-keen eye, I’m willing to follow. You may be, too.
Julie Orringer
MixedReading Jewish Fiction... prodigious and varied research ... Nor can anyone argue Orringer’s literary gifts. With echoes of Henry James, she excels in particular at the art of description ... As with the experience of reading James, too, one can’t help but notice that the descriptive prose expands the novel—in The Flight Portfolio’s case, to well over 500 pages ... Focusing exclusively on the artistic implications, however—considering the effects of Orringer’s choices on the novel as a novel—one discerns some pitfalls in the parallel plotline. Some readers may regret its effects on the pacing of the mission-focused narrative. Others may tire of certain repetitions in the love story ... it occurs to me that the novelistic right may produce something beyond the artistic creation itself: an invitation for the reader who seeks to be educated as well as entertained to investigate further...The degree to which this invitation may inspire readers will vary.
