Gypsy Rizka is an episodic novel: It has a thin overall plot and nearly all the action occurs in mini-stories that are complete tales by themselves, although each carries forward the overall plot a little. For instance, there is the ghost story in which Rizka haunts the town, the fish story in which she cons a fish out of Sobako, and the two chicken stories, in one of which Sharpnack tries to convict Rizka's cat of stealing a roast chicken and in the other of which he makes a fool of himself as Rizka cons him into taking a cure that coats him in honey and feathers and has him running in circles clucking. Each of these and other stories could stand alone, but each is enriched by the careful development of characters from one story to the next, especially the wonderful Rizka. It is the...