Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as
his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts-The Stories of Jacob, Young Jos
eph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider-as a unified narrative, a "mytholo
gical novel" of Joseph's fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. D
eploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs
and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, a
nd the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity,
and pain.
The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological
insight, and epic grandeur. Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives
us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy o
f Mann's achievement, revealing the novel's exuberant polyphony of ancient and m
odern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.
