" A successful commercial artist with a New York ad agency, he is the father of two sons from a first marriage who despise him and a daughter from a second marriage who adores him, He is the beloved brother of a good man whose physical well-being comes to arouse his bitter envy, and he is the lonely ex-husband of three very different women with whom he's made a mess of marriage. In the end he is a man who has become what he does not want to be." From...

Serialized first in the Little Review in 1918 and published first in Paris in 1922, although its censorship for obscenity in America and England were not lifted until the mid-1930sIn terms of its story it defies abridgement or explanation except that it all takes place on one day, 16 June 1904, or Bloomsday, which was the anniversary of Joyces first walk with his beloved Nora Barnacle. It (very) loosely follows the episodes of Ulysses from the Odyssey...

Mendel is always messing up. So, no one is more surprised than he, when the rabbi asks him to drive the Mitzvah Mobile through the streets of New York's Lower East Side and invite everyone to the Hanukkah Bash. What if he messes up again? But as Mendel begins to spread the joy of the holiday to his neighbors, he learns that mistakes can happen and sometimes that's not so bad.

Strega Nona: "Never go near my cooking pot," warns old witch Strega Nona. But does Big Anthony listen? No! Joseph had a little overcoat: Joseph loves his little overcoat, but it's getting old and worn. What can he do with it now? Stone soup: When three soldiers come to town, all the townsfolk hide their food. If the soldiers can't find any food, what will they eat? Stone soup, of course!