In the Image: A NovelIn the Image is an extraordinary first novel illuminated by spiritual exploration, one that remembers a language, a literature, a held hand, an entire world lived and breathed in the image of God. Bill Landsmann, an elderly Jewish refugee in a New Jersey suburb with a passion for travel, is obsessed with building his slide collection of images from the Bible that he finds scattered throughout the world. The novel begins when he crosses paths with his granddaughter's friend, Leora, and continues by moving forward through her life and backward through his, revealing the unexpected links between his family's past and her family's future. Not just a first novel but a cultural event; a wedding of secular and religious forms of literature; In the Image neither lives in the past nor seeks to escape it, but rather assimilates it, in the best sense of the word, honoring what is lost and finding, among the lost things, the treasures that can renew the present. Reading group guide included. |
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Aaron Amsterdam Amsterdam Avenue Anna answered began Bill Landsmann Birobidzhan carousel Carousel of Progress clock Costco dark desk dollhouse dolls door drawer Dutch East Mountain Zoo eyes face father feel felt fingers floor Freydl front Gatorade giant girl glanced glass glowing grandmother hand Hassidic head inside Isaac Jake Jake's Jason Jewish Jews knew laughed Leah Leah's Leora thought living looked lost city Mad Hatter mother Nadav Naomi never night noticed ocelots painting parents picture realized remember Rijksmuseum Rivka Rosenthal Sarah seemed sitting sleep slide projector slides smile someone sort Spinoza stared stood stopped streets study house suddenly talking tefillin tell things tiny told town turned Vienna voice waiting walked wall watched Wilhelm Willem William Landsmann window woman wondered words yarmulke Yehudah Yiddish