THE YELLOW WIND<i> by David Grossman translated from the Hebrew by Haim Watzman (Farrar, Straus & Giroux: $17.95; 216 pp.) </i>

“The Yellow Wind” creates a climate of cultural binationalism that brings contemporary Israeli fiction a step closer to the partly non-Jewish reality of the Jewish state.--Muhammad Siddiq

MAMA DAY

by Gloria Naylor (Ticknor & Fields: $17.95; 311 pp.) Naylor’s novel conveys her dazzling sense of humor, her rich comic observation and that indefinable quality we call “heart.” She has

a lot to show off.--Rita Mae Brown