The Book of Job in Wonderland

This is the most creative and insightful study of the Elihu speeches in the Book of Job that I have read. It combines careful and rigorous philological analysis, attention to the history of reception among Jewish and Christian interpreters, and literary theory to offer a fresh reading of the material. It is also beautifully written and truly engaging to read. A tour de force. * Choon-Leong Seow, Cupples Chair in Divinity and Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible, Vanderbilt University * There are many faces to mediation between Job and the Deity in the book of Job. In this original and fascinating book, Ryan Armstrong examines them all, employing a rich array of philological and literary-rhetorical means to do so. Armstrong impresses us with the intermediary contributions of Elihu at the same time that he addresses the Deity's astonishingly unmediated response to Job. Armstrong makes profound use of interpretations of Job stretching from ancient to contemporary times, with extended and delightful comparisons drawn to Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. Engagingly written, this marvelously sophisticated and learned treatment of an endlessly engaging text is essential reading for every student of Job. * Edward L. Greenstein, Author of Job: A New Translation * Ryan Armstrong draws productively on the work of Lewis Carroll to offer a detailed, authoritative, and highly insightful exploration of the Book of Job. In so doing, he sheds fascinating light on topics ranging from social justice to language, wisdom and learning in the Carrollian oeuvre. Compellingly written - at times via some delicious neologisms of his own - this volume delivers on the promise of any comparative exercise which, in the words of George Steiner, is to 'see more'. * Kiera Vaclavik, Author of Fashioning Alice: The Career of Lewis Carroll's Icon, 1860-1901 *