In the elven bold and tender stories that comprise Blaustein's Kiss, Judith Felsenfeld illuminates the complexities of multigenerational family life. The impulse to connect is a major theme: a mother who has lost her rightful place in the family; parents ambitious for a child beyond reasonableness; a nursing home runaway and a the woman who shields him; the ongoing pull of the immigrant experience as a family faces challenges to their lifelong myths and assumptions. Throughout, narrative skill and a fine eye for the minute detail shine though. This assured collection is linked occasionally by character, but always by Felsenfeld's spare, funny, generous voice.