Like the marketplace storyteller of centuries past, Isaac Bashevis Singer again and again comes up with an unexpected delight for his audience. This collection of eight stories--some inspired by traditional Jewish tales--ranges from devilish comedy to delicate fantasy to parable to a tale of witchery and demons. The hilarious trickery of "Shrewd Todie and Lyzer the Miser" is followed by the tenderness of "Menaseh's Dream," which is matched by the title story's satisfying high-jinks.
"Singer's tales are no more for Jewish children than Andersen's fairy tales are for Danish children. They have the sweep, the direct voice-to-ear simplicity, the easy familiarity which make all folk literature universal," writes the Chicago Tribune. A demonstration of the justice of this comment is provided by When Shlemiel Went to Warsaw and Other Stories.
--from the dustjacket
The eight stories based on traditional Jewish themes from Eastern Europe include:
- Shrewd Todie & Lyzer the Miser
- Tsirtsur & Peziza
- Rabbi Leib & the Witch Cunegunde
- The Elders of Chelm & Genendel's Key
- Shlemiel, the Businessman
- Utzel & His Daughter Poverty
- Menaseh's Dream
- When Shlemiel went to Warsaw.
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