The Tears and Prayers of Fools
A Novel
Grigory Kanovich author Mary Ann Szporluk translator Ken Frieden editor
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Syracuse University Press
Published:16th Oct '23
Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back
This extraordinary novel is part of Grigory Kanovich’s "Litvak saga," his tribute to Jewish life before the Holocaust. Set in a small Lithuanian town in the late nineteenth century, the story begins with the arrival of a stranger who sets everyone on edge and seems to know their secrets. Is he a messenger from God, a long-lost son, a saint, or a madman? As the stranger in the velvet yarmulke makes his rounds, we meet an unforgettable cast of characters—Rabbi Uri, the aged rabbi; Itsik Magid, the strapping young woodcutter; the resourceful widow Golda; Markus Fradkin, the wealthy timber merchant, and his beautiful daughter Zelda; Yeshua Mandel, the tavern keeper, his troubled son Simeon, and their devoted servant girl Morta. A work of realism as well as a parable, Kanovich’s novel illuminates the most intimate fears, dreams, and longings of the shtetl’s inhabitants.
Kanovich saved us, ‘Jews of silence,’ from forgetting our very selves during the most difficult times of antisemitism and dictatorship. The Tears and Prayers of Fools became at once a biblical parable for our time and a Chagall painting restored to life in words—the eternal flight of a free human above a tragic age." - Vitaly Portnikov, Ukrainian journalist and writer
"‘Shtetl noir’ meets Hasidic legend in this deeply philosophical work. In a word, this novel is the work of an exceptional writer with a unique voice." - Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, University Professor Emerita, New York University
"When The Tears and Prayers of Fools came out in Russian in Vilnius in 1983, I was fortunate to be able to purchase a copy of this novel in Lithuania (back then, Kanovich’s books were not sold in Moscow) and was completely overwhelmed by its stylistic originality, richness of detail, and philosophical depth." - Mikhail Krutikov, University of Michigan
ISBN: 9780815611592
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 272g
320 pages