Wandering Stars
By Sholem Aleichem
Forward by Tony Kushner
Translated from the Yiddish by Aliza Shevrin
Viking, 425 pages, $29.95
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“Fiddler on the Roof” may define Yiddish creativity in the public imagination, but this rich tradition is full of so much joy and wit that it shouldn’t be confined to a single musical. The author, Sholem Aleichem, was one of the most celebrated writers of his time, and there is a new translation — with a brilliant foreword by playwright Tony Kushner (“Angels in America”) — of his novel about thwarted love in Yiddish theater, “Wandering Stars.” First published 100 years ago, this is a story full of joy and the kind of provocative, rich, theater that Kushner calls “emancipatory magic.”