Overview

Two early works by S.Y. Abramovitsh introduce the reader to Abramovitsh’s alter ego Mendele the Book Peddler. Mendele narrates both The Little Man and Fishke the Lame. In different voices, he also presents a diverse cast of characters including Isaac Abraham as tailor’s apprentice, choirboy, and corrupt businessman. Reb Alter tells of his matchmaking mishap and Fishke relates his travels through the Ukraine with a caravan of beggars. Sholem Aleichem’s Tevye reemerges from new translations of """"Hodel"""" and """"Chava"""" in all of his comic splendor. Notes enable students to follow Tevye’s uneven steps through Bible quotations. Four of Sholem Aleichem’s other eloquent monologists come back to haunt us in scintillating translations. The selections from Peretz include his finest stories about the hasidim, such as """"Kabbalists,"""" """"Teachings of the Hasidim,"""" and the ironic tale """"The Rebbe’s Pipe."""" A fresh rendering of Peretz’s masterpiece """"Between Two Mountains"""" represents the meeting of an inspirational rebbe and an awe-inspiring rabbi. Following the translations are three biographical essays about these giants of modern Yiddish literature.

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9780815632917

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Reviews

Showcases to superb effect the short fiction of Yiddish writing's three early masters. Frieden has done an excellent editing job, and the translators deserve applause for their meticulous work. Highly recommended for Jewish studies collections.--Library Journal This is a book for every collection--university, synagogue, yeshiva, and public library--and is highly recommended for your personal library.--AJL Newsletter

Author Information

Ken Frieden holds the B. G. Rudolph Chair in Judaic Studies at Syracuse University. His previous book, Clas- sic Yiddish Fiction: Abramovitsh, Sholem Aleichem, and Peretz, is a study of the authors anthologized in this volume. Frieden's other work includes numerous scholarly essays as well as English editions of Sholem Aleichem's monologues and of S. Y. Abramovitsh's Tales of Mendele the Book Peddler. Ted Gorelick specialized in the translation of Eastern European literature and won critical acclaim for his English renditions of S. Y. Abramovitsh's fiction. His original translations may be found in Tales of Mendele the Book Peddler and in Sholem Aleichem's Nineteen to the Dozen: Monologues and Bits and Bobs of Other Things (the latter published by Syracuse University Press). Michael Wex is the author of Shlepping the Exile and of five plays. His translation of S. Y. Abramovitsh's The Wishing-Ring was also published by Syracuse University Press.

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