And the Crooked Shall Be Made Straight

S.Y. Agnon's first book-length, breakthrough work, originally published in Hebrew in 1912 and now available in English for the first time in a fully annotated edition. This novella depicts an impossible moral dilemma faced by the tragic hero Menasheh Chaim, in mid-19th century Buczacz (in today's western Ukraine). In the framework of a traditional Jewish folktale of old world Eastern European Jewry, Agnon delivers a profoundly modern piece of literature, which benefits from the tension between plot and genre.

- New volume of Agnon's fiction in first-time English translation.
- Volume 14 in the Toby Press' S.Y. Agnon Library the fullest collection of the Nobel laureate's work in annotated English translation.
- Critical introduction to the novella by translator, Professor Michael P. Kramer, unlocking the themes of exile and redemption and providing the historical context for Agnon's achievement with this breakthrough work.
- 50 pages of annotations, unpacking Agnon's rich symbolism and sources with which he built his intertextual masterpiece.
- Annotated bibliography of criticism and scholarship on the work by series editor Jeffrey Saks.
- Woodcut illustrations from the 1919 Hebrew edition published in Berlin.