Beware of God
Stories
By Shalom Auslander
(Simon & Schuster, Paperback, 9780743264570, 208pp.)
Publication Date: March 28, 2006
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook
Categories: Christian - General, Literary, Short Stories (single author)
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Shalom Auslander's stories in Beware of God have the mysterious punch of a dream. They are wide ranging and inventive: A young Jewish man's inexplicable transformation into a very large, blond, tattooed goy ends with an argument over whether or not his father can beat his unclean son with a copy of the Talmud. A pious man having a near-death experience discovers that God is actually a chicken, and he's forced to reconsider his life -- and his diet. At God's insistence, Leo Schwartzman searches Home Depot for supplies for an ark. And a young boy mistakes Holocaust Remembrance Day as emergency preparedness training for the future.
Auslander draws upon his upbringing in an Orthodox Jewish community in New York State to craft stories that are filled with shame, sex, God, and death, but also manage to be wickedly funny and poignant.
Shalom Auslander was raised as an Orthodox Jew in Spring Valley, New York. Nominated for the Koret Award for writers under thirty-five, he has published articles in Esquire and has had stories aired on NPR's This American Life. He lives in New York City.
"Hilarious, curious, possibly scandalous, keenly observed and bleeding-fresh."
--Augusten Burroughs, author of Running with Scissors
"The stories in Beware of God mark the debut of the freshest voice in Jewish literature since Philip Roth arrived on the scene. Youthful, energetic, wholly original--never has Orthodox Judaism been so appealing. Auslander captures the ecstatic melancholy and perverse confusion that makes for a comedy of divine intervention. Beware of God charts the collision of the modern world with ancient superstition, belief rubbing up against desire. In these stories not only does God speak--he does it in Dolby Surround sound."
--A. M. Homes, author of Things You Should Know and The Safety of Objects
"A fresh voice, and wonderfully fearless."
--Kirkus Reviews
"Auslander skillfully handles heavy subject matter with a droll tone."
--Publishers Weekly
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