While the Messiah Tarries

by Melvin Jules Bukiet

Book Overview

Combining history, fable, theology, and myth, these nine stories, by turns magical and mundane, comic and tragic, are remarkable for the breadth of their concerns and the depth of their vision. A mysterious woman searching for an impossible gem in Manhattan's diamond district; ancient ruins that might be the birthplace of god; a university library that catalogues human evil. Melvin Bukiet chronicles the lives of Jews in America, past and present,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0815604971
• ISBN13: 9780815604976
• Release Date: December 1997
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Five-Star YES

I think I understand why the previous reviewer was disappointed, for this book is so rooted in Jewish life and culture that it might indeed go right by someone who doesn't have these roots. But I couldn't put it down, except to stop now and then to stare into space and shake my head YES over such a devastatingly smart-guy-funny and old-guy-wise collection of stories. I also shook my head in wonderment--"Why was this book on a sale table marked down to a dollar and why isn't Bukiet famous?" He is the only American Jewish writer I've read in a very long time whom I consider worthy to fill the spot left by the brilliant Stanley Elkin. Eventually I would like to write the kind of substantial review that these stories deserve but for now, I will just say: these stories are good. In the sense of there being no higher compliment than GOOD. They partake of the reality of being GOOD. Laughter through tears, OK, that's not "new" but laughter through tears so that it hits you anew with total vitality and genuine human presence, why else bother to write and read fiction? So much flotsam and jetsam out there, I mean in the realm of trendy and purportedly mystical/comical Jewish tales, and most are a cleptrep of mishmosh. These stories are cut from the real cloth of Jewish life. That takes a master tailor, trust me.