Will Sammy Levitt's bar mitzvah plans be derailed by a Christian pilgrimage? Cliff Graubart in his first novel writes a humorous and touching tale of 1950s Washington Heights Jewish life in The Curious Vision of Sammy Levitt and Other Stories.

Sammy Levitt, about to become the first bar mitzvah in the new synagogue sees an image that threatens to bring him unwelcome celebrity. Can the hopes of a priest and a rabbi keep the community from blowing apart? A brother's quest for truth sets the stage in "Who Cries for Aaron" where a young boy travels to northern Italy to fulfill a lifelong promise. An unexpected story of love in the "Yiddish Theater" presents the success and failure experienced by Jewish immigrants at the turn of the century. Graubart draws upon personal experience in "Segura's Hand," bringing to life the challenge of conquering one's fears. "Short Timer" illuminates the last days of a soldier's enlistment in the US Army in Germany, explores both endings and beginnings. Sadness and longing ride the New York subway with a seventeen-year-old boy as he looks for love on New Year's Eve. These stories are woven together by Cliff Graubart's fresh, authentic voice documenting the American Jewish experience.