Grandfather J. B.: Letters to My Grandson

Memoirs through poignant, witty letters written by a self-taught immigrant to his professor grandson in the Sixties, first published by Little, Brown and now in a new paperback. Both sweet and acerbic, with plenty of subtext and wistfulness of dreams of philosophy or just going to college, the book compels attention for its strong characters deftly revealed by short letters—and always the stern correction of the "stubborn" grandson.

Joseph Bercovici was proud of his "clan" of writers, a…