Today, part 5 (of 10) of Grisha Freidin’s reasons for being “obsessed” with Isaac Babel: 5. Another Babel thread ran through my personal life. I married early to a young woman whose father, the sculptor Ilya Slonim, had known Babel very well. In 1916, in Petrograd, Babel practically became adopted by the Slonim family; their friendship lasted a lifetime. Ilya Slonim told us many stories about Babel and the ones he heard from Babel the raconteur. He also preserved Babel’s […]

Today, parts 3 and 4 (of 6) of Gregory Freidin’s reasons for being “obsessed” with  Isaac Babel: 3. Around this time, at 16 or so, I discovered Babel’s “Odessa Stories.” If ever life imitated art, this was it. In my age cohort, many had a similar experience. Indeed, Jewish or not, if you were a cool guy, you knew Babel’s stories about the Jewish underworld of Odessa and flaunted your knowledge by peppering your speech with some of the fractured […]

Today, part 2 (of 6) of Gregory Freidin’s reasons for being “obsessed” with  Isaac Babel: In the early 1960s, my family moved to a neighborhood a couple of miles north, Maryina Roshcha (Mary’s Grove), which turned out to be teaming with Jews who belonged to or in some way were associated with the underworld. Some were violent gangsters, others dealt in stolen good, drugs, pimping. A few were associated with the by then defunct Jewish Theater. My friends came from […]