Booklist Review
Kniffel is the editor of American Libraries magazine, and his delightful, colorful, and poignant book is the result of a stay he enjoyed a few years ago in Poland, from where his grandparents emigrated just prior to the outbreak of World War I. Loaded, along with a computer and clothing, with all the stories he could remember hearing his grandmother tell, Kniffel established himself in temporary residence in the area in which she was born, his object being not only to absorb the old country that is his roots but also to establish contact with relatives who, chances were, were still living in the region. Kniffel bought a used car, found a place to live in busy businessman Adam's house, and, speaking passable Polish, did an amazing job of becoming, in a short time, part of the community. In an easy, comfortable, and humorous narrative voice, which reflects his perceptiveness, Kniffel takes readers along with him on this sustaining voyage of self-discovery, a story brimming with vibrant characters who could have come right out of a good village-life novel. --Brad Hooper Copyright 2005 Booklist
Choice Review
Histories of small communities, anti-semitism past and present, Catholicism, communism, and anti-communism in 21st-century Poland are components of Kniffel's memoir in search of his Polish roots. He discovers individuals in villages, churches, and households with the blemishes and virtues of humans past and present. There are many stories of ethnic customs, foods of Poland, quarrels, and friendships as a third-generation Polish American introduces his readers to a people and nation tormented by the fluid boundaries that resulted in centuries of invasions and conquest. Today, it is nearly impossible to believe that Poles were ready to jettison the Catholic Church during the Reformation, or that unemployed and underemployed workers and racist ideology are challenges as Poland, an early new member of NATO, prepares to join the European Union. Kniffel (editor and publisher, American Libraries) also successfully shares the difficult, perhaps impossible, task of learning the Polish language as an adult. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. For general readers and all who seek to understand the history of anti-semitism and current issues in central Europe. N. J. Hervey Luther College
Library Journal Review
According to a recent report from the consulting firm Market Strategies, Inc., over 73 percent of Americans polled expressed interest in locating their family histories. The advent of the Internet has allowed for unprecedented global research without leaving your computer. But what person wouldn't love to explore the actual country of his or her ancestors and meet long-lost relatives? Kniffel, editor and publisher of American Libraries, has written a charming and novel-like memoir of such an exploration, filled with interesting characters. Spurred by memories of his late grandmother's stories (she left Poland in 1913), he decided to travel to the Polish town of Nowe Miasto Lubawski in search of her brothers' and sisters' families. He stayed for several months. Kniffel recalls in lucid detail the Polish seasons, religious rituals, and the distinctive character of the people there. He also discusses some of the differences between this trip in 2000 and the journey he had taken with his mother in 1988 before the fall of communism. Kniffel is an astute observer who paints his acquaintances exactly as he sees them, without romanticism. His descriptions leave the reader with a thirst for photographs, as well as a map tracing his grandmother's journey across Germany to the United States. Recommended for public libraries.-Maria C. Bagshaw, Lake Erie Coll., Painesville, OH (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.