David Schearl arrives in New York in his mother's arms to begin his new life as an immigrant in the 'Golden Land'. David is hated by his father - an angry, violent man unable to find his niche in the New World - but is fiercely loved and protected by his Yiddish-speaking mother. An innovative, multilingual novel, Call It Sleep subtly interweaves the overwhelming love between a mother and son with the terrors and anxieties David experiences, as he seeks to find his own identity amidst the cultural disarray of early twentieth-century America.

'A great novel of immigrant life' Guardian

'Surely the most lyrically authentic novel in American literature about a young boy's coming to consciousness' New Yorker