Book Club: The Art of Being a Stranger

The Art of Being a Stranger

Karen Bermann grew up in the mad orbit of her father, Fritz, the rebellious child of a Viennese Orthodox Jewish family who fled Europe alone as an adolescent in the late 1930s. An irreverent, comic, rageful man with three names, who spoke three languages, lived on three continents, and always kept his papers in order, Fritz lived a life shaped by survival. In this memoir, told in alternating voices in brief, lyrical episodes, Bermann explores not only the mystery of her father but also the inheritance he passed on: intergenerational trauma, fragile familial bonds, and a fraught sense of belonging.

The Art of Being a Stranger is a darkly funny narrative told in poetry, prose, and mixed-media drawings. While her father taught her how to save herself, Bermann realized early on that what she truly needed was to be saved from him. Set against the backdrop of 1960s and 1970s New York City, The Art of Being a Stranger is a poignant comic-drama that offers an intimate, layered exploration of parents and children in the shadow of history.

Text: University of Toronto Press

Guest and Author: Karen Bermann

Karen Bermann is professor emerita of architecture at Iowa State University. She worked on sweat equity rehabilitation in her native New York in the 1970s and 80s, studied architecture at The Cooper Union, and taught design and drawing in Iowa and in Rome, where she lives now