So lately I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about religion and the notion of God.  Some of it is research for the novel-in-progress, but most of it is just my own curiosity.  It seems to me that most forms of religion originate with the central question of meaning.  Why are we here?  What is our purpose?  And what will happen to us when we die?  The universe, science keeps telling us, just keeps getting larger and larger, and humankind’s place in it smaller and smaller.  I’ll be the first …

Library Journal reviews The People of the Book and says: “From Rachel Pollack’s distinctive retelling of the story of Joseph (“Burning Beard: The Dreams and Visions of Joseph Ben Jacob, Lord Viceroy of Egypt”) to Matthew Kressel’s far future tale of apocalypse and historic preservation (“The History Within Us”), the 20 stories in this collection reveal the Jewish experience through the medium of fantastic literature. Contributions by Jane Yolen, Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Michael Chabon, and other authors demonstrate the rich literary tradition of Jewish culture. ­ VERDICT From tales of …