Brilliant and insightful, Chaim Aronson overcame grinding poverty and a poor education to become a master craftsman and inventor. Yet, forced to partner with clueless aristocrats and scheming middlemen, he could never quite make a decent living for himself and his family. Aronson left rural Seredzius, Lithuania, studied in Vilna, married and started in business in Telz (Telsiai), and opened stores and factories in St. Petersburg, before emigrating to New York in 1888. His shrewd observations give a telling view of ordinary life in the 19th-century Russian Empire.

"Dramatically depicts arranged marriages, semi-starved Talmudic students, and remarkable characters and events in the repressed, superstitious society of the Pale. Much more realistic than in the stories of Sholom Aleichem and Chaim Grade.... Excellently translated, edited and annotated, this fine work will enthrall students of shtetl life and customs and doubtless become a standard source for social historians."

Publishers Weekly

"Aronson's vivid descriptions illuminate our understanding of that poverty-stricken, superstitious society.... His versatility, inventiveness, and curiosity reflect the burgeoning technology of the period."

Library Journal