Humoresque

Fannie Hurst's Humoresque follows Abe Kammerstein, a gifted young violinist growing up among immigrant families on New York's Lower East Side. His devoted, hardworking mother shapes his early life, and his musical talent sets him apart from the crowded tenement world around him.

The story explores the pull between family duty and artistic ambition, and the sacrifices that a poor immigrant household makes in the hope that a child might rise. Hurst, a popular American writer of her era, drew on the Jewish immigrant community she knew well. The work has been adapted for the screen more than once.