"In this collection of stories, Miriam Karpilove captures a wide range of figures whose foibles and woes are in turns hilarious and affecting, from an underappreciated and overworked young woman journalist to an older man who runs away from an old age home because he does not want to live among the dying. This collection brings to new audiences the broad range of Yiddish writer Miriam Karpilove's sharp and unsparing pen while also shedding light on the conditions under which she lived and wrote"-- These wonderful and unique stories describe a Jewish world rarely seen in Yiddish letters, a world of women writers and dreamers. Kirzane’s translations bring these stories to life for the contemporary reader. ― Allison Schachter, Vanderbilt University An important work of feminist excavation that is so much more fun than that phrase implies, giving us a chance to read the words of a lively, complex writer in her prime. Kirzane’s translation makes the Yiddish inflections sing with life, and made me feel a warm connection to a writerly foremother I barely knew before. ― Sarah Seltzer, executive editor, Lilith Magazine Spanning four tumultuous decades and ranging from Boston to Paris to Palestine, the sparkling novella, memoirs, and stories translated here for the first time make it unmistakable: Miriam Karpilove has arrived, and not a minute too soon, as one of the major voices of American Jewish literature. ― Josh Lambert, author of The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature I love especially the very funny title story 'A Provincial Newspaper' and its sardonic anonymous female narrator who describes the utter absurdity of the sexism, condescension and egotism of the men who control the provincial Yiddish newspaper for which she writes. ― Irena Klepfisz, author of Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021 These wonderful and unique stories describe a Jewish world rarely seen in Yiddish letters, a world of women writers and dreamers. Kirzane’s translations bring these stories to life for the contemporary reader. An important work of feminist excavation that is so much more fun than that phrase implies, giving us a chance to read the words of a lively, complex writer in her prime. Kirzane’s translation makes the Yiddish inflections sing with life, and made me feel a warm connection to a writerly foremother I barely knew before. Spanning four tumultuous decades and ranging from Boston to Paris to Palestine, the sparkling novella, memoirs, and stories translated here for the first time make it unmistakable: Miriam Karpilove has arrived, and not a minute too soon, as one of the major voices of American Jewish literature. I love especially the very funny title story 'A Provincial Newspaper' and its sardonic anonymous female narrator who describes the utter absurdity of the sexism, condescension and egotism of the men who control the provincial Yiddish newspaper for which she writes. This charming collection brings a new appreciation to the broad range of Karpilove’s sharp and unsparing pen. These wonderful and unique stories describe a Jewish world rarely seen in Yiddish letters, a world of women writers and dreamers. Kirzane’s translations bring these stories to life for the contemporary reader. ― Allison Schachter, Vanderbilt University An important work of feminist excavation that is so much more fun than that phrase implies, giving us a chance to read the words of a lively, complex writer in her prime. Kirzane’s translation makes the Yiddish inflections sing with life, and made me feel a warm connection to a writerly foremother I barely knew before. ― Sarah Seltzer, executive editor, Lilith Magazine Spanning four tumultuous decades and ranging from Boston to Paris to Palestine, the sparkling novella, memoirs, and stories translated here for the first time make it unmistakable: Miriam Karpilove has arrived, and not a minute too soon, as one of the major voices of American Jewish literature. ― Josh Lambert, author of The Literary Mafia: Jews, Publishing, and Postwar American Literature I love especially the very funny title story 'A Provincial Newspaper' and its sardonic anonymous female narrator who describes the utter absurdity of the sexism, condescension and egotism of the men who control the provincial Yiddish newspaper for which she writes. ― Irena Klepfisz, author of Her Birth and Later Years: New and Collected Poems, 1971-2021 This charming collection brings a new appreciation to the broad range of Karpilove’s sharp and unsparing pen. Miriam Karpilove (1886–1956) published dramas, criticism, sketches, short stories, and novellas in a variety of prominent Yiddish periodicals during her fifty-year career. She was a member of the Forverts staff, publishing seven novels and numerous works of short fiction between 1929 and 1937. Jessica Kirzane is assistant instructional professor of Yiddish in the Department of Germanic Studies at the Univer