The massive file on Zwetschkenbaum

the long version

The Massive File on Zwetschkenbaum is a picaresque (and picturesque) novel based on the misfortunes of a young Talmud scholar, whose story is allegedly recorded by the author as a young attorney between the two world wars.The protagonist is an anti-hero who for the most trifling of offenses - after a nap under a plum tree he unthinkingly eats some of the fruit - becomes ensnared in the legal machinery which grinds on relentlessly, although all authorities feel the charges should be dropped. Hence the massive file is created. Drach pillories mindless bureaucracy of the legal system, the bumbling medical profession, and the general corruption of the times along with the prevalent anti-Semitism.