Description

Yekl and the Imported Bridegroom and Other Stories of Yiddish New York brings together several stories by one of the preeminent American Jewish writers, Abraham Cahan. Cahan was an emigrant from Lithuania in 1882, having moved to New York City to escape political persecution under the Russian czar. In New York, Cahan established himself as editor of a prominent Jewish daily paper (it eventually became the leading Yiddish newspaper in the world), as well as a successful writer of fiction. This volume brings together some of his powerful and evocative fiction of the lives of Jews in New York around the turn of the 19th century, giving a faithful and fascinating view of the joys and challenges they faced as they dealt with the problems of assimilation into a new culture while trying to maintain their uniqueness. The lead story, "Yekl: A Tale of the New York Ghetto," was made into a successful movie in 1975, Hester Street. Newly designed and typeset in a modern 6-by-9-inch format.