
Abe Perlmutter and Morris Potash run a bustling garment shop in the chaotic weeks after the Great War, and their banter is as lively as the city streets they inhabit. Between sore throats, misplaced metaphors about emperors and fashion forecasts, they wrestle with a world suddenly stripped of certainty—whether it’s a looming strike, a fickle president, or the ever‑changing styles drifting from Paris. Their dialogue crackles with slangy humor, offering a vivid snapshot of small‑business life amid post‑war uncertainty.
The novel follows their schemes to stay ahead of competitors, from tracking overseas trends without a passport to navigating the whims of customers who seem as fickle as the fashions they sell. As Abe and Morris trade jokes and worries, they reveal a sharp, affectionate satire of a society trying to stitch together normalcy from the threads of a turbulent era. Listeners will enjoy the rapid‑fire repartee and the colorful portrait of two friends determined to keep their shop—and each other—alive.
Language
en
Duration
~6 hours (351K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Suzanne Shell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2006-11-28
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1877–1934
Best known for turning the fast-talking world of New York’s garment trade into warm, witty fiction, this American humorist created the hugely popular Potash and Perlmutter stories. His work captured immigrant life and business banter with affection rather than cruelty, which helped make him a favorite with early 20th-century readers.
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