The Letters of Menakhem-Mendl and Sheyne-Sheyndl and Motl, the Cantor's Son

A translation of two comic novels by the 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, Peysi 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.