A Guide for the Perplexed

By Jonathan Levi

Book Overview

In "a fable of fantastical lushness" (New York Times Book Review), Levi weaves together the stories of two strangers and their mysterious travel agent to present an extraordinarily crafted revisionist history of the discovery of America, combining the erudition of Umberto Eco with the ingenious storytelling of A Thousand and One Nights. Holland and Hanni have come to Spain for two very different reasons. They have nothing in common except they share the same travel agent, Ben. Stranded overnight by an airport strike, Hanni and Holland discover that they are connected by a strange web of history and happenstance--a common labyrinth that stretches back to World War II, the Spanish Inquisition, and beyond. A Guide for the Perplexed is a collection of the letters these women write to their mysterious, unseen travel agent--a long night's worth of confessions, a tapestry of tales chasing tales, including an untold saga of Columbus' voyage to the New World, stories of war and lost loves, lost children, lost Jews, and the true origins of baseball.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1468314548
• ISBN13: 9781468314540
• Release Date: May 2017
• Publisher: Overlook Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.3" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Fantastic read

It has probably been a decade since I first read this book, and it remains among my top favorites. It brings together history and Jewish mysticism and the clash of cultures and religions in Spain in a compelling narrative. A great read.

the bees in the bourgainvillea lifted their thoraxes in awe

...is my favorite line from the book. It's little over the top at times, but it is full of lush images and ideas that layer on top of one another. Lovely.

The tanscendent power of a story.

I was drawn in by Levi's ability to craft a sentence, and forever affected by what he has to say. Yes, the Levi treads the line between the uncanny and the preposterous. Some of this is delightful (the origins of baseball and the name Florida), and some is nearly intolerably silly (deep historical references in Led Zeppelin lyrics). Through most of the book, these "what if" takes on history as we know it, contained mainly in old letters (and letters within letters), are pieces of a mainly amusing, sometimes compelling puzzle. But in the moving Book of Ruth ending, Levi's lesson on the importance of stories in organizing our lives and providing identity comes through briliantly. Particularly for Jews (and particlularly 500 years after the Expulsion), this book teaches a valuable lesson. Sometimes the best route to the truth begins with "Let me tell you a story."