The People and the Books: 18 Classics of Jewish Literature - Hardcover

Adam Kirsch is a poet, literary critic, and the director of the master’s program in Jewish studies at Columbia University. He is a also columnist for Tablet and a contributor to the New York Times Book Review and The New Yorker. He lives in New York.

“[A]n astute and accessible introduction to 18 Jewish literary classics... [Kirsch's] laser focus on these works' most topical themes makes them feel so urgent that curious readers of any religious persuasion will want to read them all.”
- Dara Horn, Wall Street Journal

“Lucid, vivid and likely to provide helpful instruction... [Kirsch] has, like Simon Schama, a keen eye for the revelatory detail in discussing his historical subjects.”
- New York Times Book Review

“Anyone looking for a single-volume introduction to Jewish civilization... will find nothing better in print... A deeply serious meditation on the meaning of Jewish existence.”

“[A]n entertaining and enlightening review of eighteen classic works and, at the same time, Judaism’s most important ideas and ideals. It deserves to be on the Jewish bookshelf along with the eighteen books it opens for its reader.”
- Jewish Book Council

“Through profiles of eighteen indelible figures and chronicles...Adam Kirsch uncovers the unfailing excitements of a living, creative, and abiding civilization. And more: in this superbly clarifying panorama, he illumines how in the history of ideas Jews, despite so many permutations of approach, have faithfully adhered to a single sublime Idea.”
- Cynthia Ozick

“The people of the book are often unaware of the books of their people. Kirsch opens, unfurls, and illuminates the great works of Jewish tradition and history; he is our intellectual Sherpa, guiding us sure-footedly through the heights.”
- Rabbi David Wolpe, author of David: The Divided Heart

“Luminous... The secret of the Jews, [Kirsch] shows, is found within these classic works. Anyone interested in penetrating that secret should read The People and the Books.”
- Jonathan D. Sarna, University Professor and Joseph H. & Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, Brandeis University