Misfortune

A memoir about different kinds of hard luck. The author, who has just lost his job, tries to make money by translating Russian, then helping an old woman who claims to have lost millions, then working as an attendant. "Quads" presents the special world of quadriplegics he encountered, "Old Woman" details the plight of the dispossessed old crone, "Polyglottos" concerns a Russian dissident (Lev Kopelev) and the difficulties of translating him for three cents a word.