This volume follows the hapless, albeit hilarious, adventures of Menachem-Mendl, 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 and children are left behind in the shtetl of Kasrilevka.

A rich collection of 25 stories written for and about children by the most beloved Yiddish writer, these tales describe life for children in the impoverished yet lively shtetls of Eastern Europe. Readers will see their lives through holiday observances, family ties, schoolmates, flights of fancy, and the daily struggles and joys of childhood.

"An uproarious, sprawling masterpiece by a grand Yiddish storyteller."
-O, The Oprah Magazine

Translated in full for the first time, one hundred years after its original publication, the acclaimed epic love story set in the colorful world of the Yiddish theater. Wandering Stars spans ten years and two continents, relating the adventures of Reizel and Leibel, young shtetl dwellers in late nineteenth-century Russia who fall under the spell of a traveling acting company. Together they run away from home to become entertainers themselves, and then tour separately...