Carmen Firan

Carmen Firan portrays so convincingly and vividly a world in which her characters are attempting to live (often unsuccessfully) in two cultures simultaneously. Mimi embraces so completely the American dream, while Fred can't ever be at home, no matter where he is. It's a brilliant and artful examination of love and exile and culture.

This Horoscope of the Immigrant evolved from numerous observations and interactions with immigrants from diverse cultures, from careful research of the two zodiacs, Western and Asian, intertwining their differences, likeliness and compatibilities. It is, in the end, an intuitive read, somewhat speculative and playful depicting the psychology of the immigrant torn between his two births, the biological one in his native home and the symbolical one in his adopted land. Any immigrant will admit that each time he meets new people, he is asked: "What year did you come here?"

There is also an anthology of the favorite poems of each poet, many not previously published, as well as other tragic and comic literary surprises in this nothing-like-it book.

Set in New York City and Eastern Europe, these stories explore the indelible mark left by unexpected historical and personal traumas. Firan effortlessly blends elements of realism and fantasy to create a rich and spellbinding narrative world. Each story revolves around a middle-aged male protagonist, who struggles to find meaning in his life as he experiences failure and desperately reaches out in pursuit of happiness.