Bruno Lessing, the pseudonym for Rudolph Edgar Block, is best remembered as a writer of short stories dealing with life in the ghetto on the East Side of New York during the last years of the nineteenth century and the early years of the twentieth. Lessing's terse style, vaguely reminiscent of Chekhov's, captures the pathos of the hardships and the subtle humor and insight to be found in the day-to-day milieu of the Jewish community.

Little is known of Lessing's early life except that he was born in New York City. While attending the College of the City of New York, he began reporting for the New York Sun in 1888. He later became Sunday editor for the New York Recorder and also reported for the New York World. After graduating from CCNY, Lessing became comic-supplements editor for the Hearst syndicate, a position he held for twenty-eight years.

His...