Description: Max Spitzkopf, the Yiddish Sherlock Holmes, " heads the famous Viennese detective bureau Blitz . . . He's bold as a lion and takes the wildest risks." Meet Max Spitzkopf: legendary private eye, undefeated foe of villains, and passionate defender of the Jewish people. No matter how hopeless or dangerous the case, when " the investigatory profession's greatest artist" is summoned, justice is assured. Aided by his trusty assistant, Fuchs, super-sleuth Spitzkopf deploys equal parts physical bravery and intellectual ingenuity-- not to mention a knack for stealthy disguise-- to unpick evil conspiracies, outwit the canniest of criminals, and restore moral order to the world. Giving a unique twist to a beloved literary genre, this complete collection of the fifteen Spitzkopf mysteries is also a vibrant testament to Jewish life, in all its variety, during the last years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Reading the tales, with every iota of their linguistic verve and historical charm preserved in Mikhl Yashinsky's translation, it's easy to see why the young Isaac Bashevis Singer thought them " masterpieces."
Review Quotes:
"'King of Detectives' Max Spitzkopf stars in this lively collection of rare early-20th-century detective stories, translated from the Yiddish...Wide-ranging, offbeat mystery tales--a valuable addition to Yiddish literature in translation." --Kirkus
"In bring-ing these tales back to light, Yashin-sky offers more than a live-ly trans-la-tion; he restores to read-ers a vivid, defi-ant chap-ter of Jew-ish pop-u-lar imag-i-na-tion -- one where a Jew-ish hero always had the last word." --Leah Grisham, Jewish Book Council
"Kreppel's lively tone and quick-fire presentation speed things along, and Mikhl Yashinsky's use of catchy idioms seems to reflect the feel of the original well." --Michael Orthofer, Complete Review
"These Spitzkopf tales deserve to be included as the uniquely Jewish superhero within a genre of classic pulp superheroes like The Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro and Buck Rogers." --Adam L. Fuller, Ph.D., Jewish Journal
"Despite the period triteness of these tales, one quickly becomes enamored of the brilliant Spitzkopf and bumbling Fuchs as they travel around solving crimes for Jews in need. That, perhaps, is one of the more historically salient aspects of the book--that early twentieth-century Yiddish-speaking Jews were given a hero they didn't have in real life." --Eddy Portnoy, Jewish Review of Books