The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk

A NEW YORKER "ESSENTIAL READ"

"Just as awe-inspiring as the Nobel judges claimed." - The Washington Post

"Olga Tokarczuk is one of our greatest living fiction writers. . . This could well be a decade-defining book akin to Bolaño's 2666." -AV Club

"Sophisticated and ribald and brimming with folk wit. . . The comedy in this novel blends, as it does in life, with genuine tragedy." -Dwight Garner, The New York Times

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL, TIME, THE NEW YORKER, AND NPR

The Nobel Prize-winner's richest, most sweeping and ambitious novel yet follows the comet-like rise and fall of a mysterious, messianic religious leader as he blazes his way across eighteenth-century Europe.

In the mid-eighteenth century, as new ideas--and a new unrest--begin to sweep the Continent, a young Jew of mysterious origins arrives in a village in Poland. Before long, he has changed not only his name but his persona; visited by what seem to be ecstatic experiences, Jacob Frank casts a charismatic spell that attracts an increasingly fervent following. In the decade to come, Frank will traverse the Hapsburg and Ottoman empires with throngs of disciples in his thrall as he reinvents himself again and again, converts to Islam and then Catholicism, is pilloried as a heretic and revered as the Messiah, and wreaks havoc on the conventional order, Jewish and Christian alike, with scandalous rumors of his sect's secret rituals and the spread of his increasingly iconoclastic beliefs. The story of Frank--a real historical figure around whom mystery and controversy swirl to this day--is the perfect canvas for the genius and unparalleled reach of Olga Tokarczuk. Narrated through the perspectives of his contemporaries--those who revere him, those who revile him, the friend who betrays him, the lone woman who sees him for what he is--The Books of Jacob captures a world on the cusp of precipitous change, searching for certainty and longing for transcendence.

In a nod to books written in Hebrew, The Books of Jacob is paginated in reverse, beginning on p. 955 and ending on p. 1 - but read traditionally, front cover to back.

Olga Tokarczuk was born in the Polish town of Sulechów, near Zielona Góra, in the year 1962. She is one of the most highly praised authors of her generation, having won all of Poland's top literary honors. She began her career as a therapist after completing her psychology degree at the University of Warsaw, and she frequently refers to C.G. Jung as a source of inspiration for her art, which has become known for its mythmaking. Tokarczuk's value as a writer was recognized with the 2018 Nobel Prize in Literature, which she garnered practically every major literary prize at home and abroad.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780593087503
ISBN 10	059308750X
Title	The Books of Jacob
Author	Olga Tokarczuk
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Penguin Putnam Inc
Year published	2023-01-31
Number of pages	992
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.