ThisisthefirstcompleteEnglish-languagetranslationofaclassicofYiddishliterature,oneofthegreatcomicnovelsofthetwentiethcentury.TheZelmenyanersdescribesthetravailsofaJewishfamilyinMinskthatistornasunderbythenewSovietreality.FourgenerationsaredepictedinrivetingandoftenuproariousdetailastheyfacetheprofoundchangesbroughtonbythedemandsoftheSovietregimeanditscollectivist,radicalsecularism.