Shalom Auslander's stories have the mysterious punch of a dream: a pious man having a near-death experience discovers that God is actually a chicken, and is forced to reconsider his life -- and his diet. Leo Schwartzman searches Home Depot for supplies for an ark. And a young boy mistakes Holocaust [...]

Fourteen short stories include the tales of a young Jewish man's transformation that tempts his father to beat him with a copy of the Talmud, a pious man's near-death discovery that God is actually a chicken, and a man's quest for ark supplies in a home improvement store. A first collection. Reprint[...]

A "New York Times" Notable Book, and a "chaotic, laugh riot"("San Francisco Chronicle") of a memoir-- first time in trade paperback.
Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up and was estranged from his community, his religion and its traditions, he could no[...]

A" New York Times" Notable Book 2012
The rural town of Stockton, New York, is famous for nothing: no one was born there, no one died there, nothing of any historical import at all has ever happened there, which is why Solomon Kugel, like other urbanites fleeing their pasts and histories, decide[...]