“A true work of art must be an invention in form or a discovery in content. Even better – both.” “The Tales of Mendel Marantz” is that very case. Although, of course, both the invention and the discovery are not of the highest standard. With the form in the stories about Mendel Marantz, everything is clear - the Sholom Aleichem tradition, like a crystal pendant, turned with a new facet, splashed with a new spectrum of bright colors. A discovery, perhaps, in comparison with the same Sholom Aleichem heroes, were the characters in the stories, Kasrilov's Jews in America, in New York and, first of all, the main character, Mendel Marantz himself, genetically related to Menachem-Mendel and others characters from Sholom Aleichem's stories, but at the same time living and acting in different conditions and himself changed along with them.