A Liberal Education

A LIBERAL EDUCATION (Fithian Press, 1991, $10.95). In ten evocative semi-autobiographical stories, octogenarian Sara S. Ruffner recounts the life of teenager Sandy Stem, the daughter of a poor Jewish family in New York during the Depression. In real life, Ruffner, who grew up in an assimilated home, divorced her non-Jewish husband 22 years ago and then decided it was time to learn and write more about her own culture and history. It is easy to recognize the familiar characters that Sandy encounters in student life at Hunter College, social life at the Catskills, and in the day-to-day struggles of her neighborhood. “First Love” is a delightful tale about adolescence: in “Delicatessen” a loveless marriage makes Sandy resolve to finish her college education and ensure her future independence