Robert Alter

Roberto Calasso’s retelling of the Hebrew Bible is both exasperating and beguiling

It’s full of winning moments, but Calasso’s preoccupation with sacrifice may stem from a discredited notion that the Old Testament prefigures the New

Solomon and the Queen of Sheba by Konrad Witz, 1437. [Alamy]
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  • The Book of All Books

    Roberto Calasso, translated by Tim Parks

    Penguin, pp. 450, £25

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