The Tavern of Popricani [Paperback]

In this novelistic account of his childhood in the Romanian countryside, Yitskhok Horowitz charts his episodic memories in the literary voice of his child self. The sole Jewish family in the village of Popricani, the Horowitzes ran the local tavern, which provides the backdrop for this child's-eye view of events, from wolf chases to serpent possessions, and culminating in the dramatic local echoes of the Romanian Peasants' Revolt. By turns endearing and unnerving, The Tavern of Popricani offers and account of the rhythms of life for one Jewish family in the hinterlands of Eastern Europe.In this novelistic account of his childhood in the Romanian countryside, Yitskhok Horowitz charts his episodic memories in the literary voice of his child self. The Tavern of Popricani (first published in 1953, in Yiddish) offers an account of the rhythms of life for one Jewish family in the hinterlands of Eastern Europe.Yitskhok (Isac) Horowitz (1893-1961) was a talented literary voice in American Yiddish culture. Editor, poet, playwright, translator, children's writer, vegetarian activist-Yitskhok Horowitz wore many hats in a life that led him from a village in Romania to New York and on to Los Angeles. The Tavern of Popricani represents one of the first translations of any of his works into English. A transporting work of borderlands, barroom brawls, and rich characters, The Tavern of Popricani is a ticket to a lively world at once familiar and foreign, distant and near. Ollie Elkus' translation masterfully recreates the magical dichotomy of Horowitz's original, bringing out a captivating, modern sensibility against a historical backdrop full of color and music. Best paired with a glass of Romanian red! Sebastian Schulman, Executive Director, KlezKanada