Sholem Aleichem

A heart-rending story of a Native American community told through the generations Following the arc of two centuries, from the horrors of the Sand Creek Massacre of 1864 to the early 21st century, Wandering Stars is an indelible novel of America's war on its own people. It is also the tender, shattering story of several generations of a Native American family, searching for ways through displacement and pain, towards home and hope: a wondrous novel of poetry, music, rage and love, from one of the most astonishing voices of his generation.

"This volume presents a new translation of two favorite comic novels by the preeminent Yiddish writer Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916). The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl portrays a tumultuous marriage through letters exchanged between the title character, an itinerant bumbler seeking his fortune in the cities of Russia before departing alone for the New World, and his scolding wife, who becomes increasingly fearful, jealous, and mystified. Motl, the Cantor's Son is the first-person narrative of a mischievous and keenly observant boy who emigrates with his family from Russia to America. The final third of the story takes place in New York, making this Sholem Aleichem's only major work to be set in the United States.". "Sholem Aleichem endows each character with an individual comic voice to tell in his own way the story of the collapse of traditional Jewish life in modern industrial society as well as the journey to America, where a new chapter of Jewish history begins. This volume includes a biographical and critical introduction as well as a useful glossary for English-language readers."--BOOK JACKET.

"Menachem-Mendl is one of Sholem Aleichem's most delightful literary creations, a dreamy optimist who travels to New York and across Eastern Europe in search of an elusive fortune at the approach of World War I. His wife, Sheyne Sheyndl, and children are left behind in the shtetl of Kasrilevka.". "Written in 1913 and previously unpublished in the United States, The Further Adventures of Menachem-Mendl consists of Menachem-Mendl's letters home and his wife's often tart replies. Working for Yiddish newspapers, Menachem-Mendl writes his opinions of world events and Jewish problems. Through the eyes of this shrewd small town Jew we see events leading to a cataclysmic war, which include his uncannily familiar treatment of conflicts in the Balkans. Menachem-Mendl describes the Zionist Congress in Vienna with Sholem Aleichem's inimitable humor, exaggeration, and realism. In her replies to her husband, Sheyne Sheyndl reminds him that his family grapples with crushing poverty and persecution. Aliza Shevrin's fluid translation captures the idiomatic richness of the original Yiddish and brings Sholem Aleichem's vanished culture to vibrant life."--BOOK JACKET.

Nineteen to the Dozen contains some of the most innovative writing by a master Yiddish writer. Many of these short stories have never before been translated into English. The author of classic Yiddish novels and short stories, Sholem Aleichem is best known for having inspired Fiddler on the Roof. His artistic vision was rooted both in the shtetl and in the city of Kiev, where he produced stories at a high literary level. This book epitomizes his ability to evoke the voices of Yiddish speakers. In each of these monologues written between 1901 and 1916, a man or woman comes forward to tell the story. The implied listeners - a rabbi, a doctor, or the author himself - say virtually nothing. Sholem Aleichem pretends to have transcribed these private performances for the reader's benefit. Five women and seven men tell their own tales. They are rich and poor, educated and ignorant. These narratives provide a unique portrayal of Eastern European Jewish society, and they go a long way toward demystifying the shtetl, which has too often been the object of undue nostalgia.

A collection of stories which capture the life and experience of a Jewish child living in Eastern Europe during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Presents retellings of five Sholom Aleichem stories which depict families observing the rituals and traditions of Jewish holidays together.

For the 150th anniversary of the birth of the “Jewish Mark Twain,”a new translation of his most famous worksTevye the Dairyman and Motl the Cantor’s Son are the most celebrated characters in all of Jewish fiction. Tevye is the lovable, Bible-quoting father of seven daughters, a modern Job whose wisdom, humor, and resilience inspired the lead character in Fiddler on the Roof. And Motl is the spirited and mischievous nine-year-old boy who accompanies his family on a journey from their Russian shtetl to New York, and whose comical, poignant, and clear-eyed observations capture with remarkable insight the struggles and hopes and triumphs of Jewish immigrants to America at the turn of the twentieth century.

A poor peasant is richly rewarded for helping two ladies find their way home from the forest.

Twenty-six tales, dealing with people of the Old World who inhabited the Jewish Pale or Settlement in Old Russia.