2004 PEN Award for the Art of the Essay

This book is an unusual meditation on illness, on relations between patients and doctors, on difficult and eternal choices.  It is unusual in the sense that this work is at once an objective examination of the world of cancer and an intensely introspective reflection . . . a rare combination.  Justman’s familiarity with great literature enables him to attain another rare achievement, which is the ability to both draw on classical authors, his interpretation of Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilych is especially thought-provoking and on his experience, thus placing his own illness in a historical perspective.  And finally, his witty, ironical and provocative style grips and delights the reader.  One does not let go of this book easily. --PEN

In this volume, Nathaniel Levtow articulately interacts with Mesopotamian and Israelite iconoclastic traditions, locating Israelite polemics against cult images among a spectrum of ancient West Asian literary genres and ritual practices that target the embodied deities of political opponents. Levtow argues that Israelite parodies of Mesopotamian iconic cult were not unique expressions of aniconic monotheism but assertions of Israelite political potency during and shortly after the Babylonian Exile. By interpreting Israelite icon parodies in this context, Levtow rejects the idea of “idolatry” as a static, native Israelite descriptive category and highlights the ability of Israelite writers to compose authoritative classifications of cult that profoundly influenced ancient and modern understandings of iconic worship practices. He concludes that biblical representations of iconic cult reveal dynamic acts of Israelite social formation and exemplify the enduring power of the cult image in ancient West Asian societies.