King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel (Ballantine Reader's Circle) Book

The difficulty of bringing into perspective figures who are larger than life is well known to Jonathan Kirsch, author of a life of Moses and of the provocative Biblical study The Harlot by the Side of the Road. In his well-researched narrative Kirsch brings King David, arguably the most important figure in the entire Jewish Bible, into relief. In searching for the "real" King David, Kirsch does not claim to bring new information to his study. he is more journalist than Biblical scholar, and clearly acknowledges when he is speculating (as, for example, in his reconstruction of the scene in which David first glimpses the beautiful Bathsheba). Rather, he chooses to remind his readers that David is not myth but flesh and blood--and is, astonishingly, presented this way in the biblical texts themselves. Kirsch's David is real, human, both heroic and flawed. Following much of modern religious scholarship which sees the Bible as "a patchwork of ancient texts that were composed and compiled by countless authors and editors," this study may not appeal to more fundamentalist readers; butit is not intended for scholars. It should, however, satisfy many readers who wish to explore more deeply the pertinent and picaresque life of a very real man, a charismatic leader who, as one historian puts it, "played exquisitely, fought heroically and loved titanically." --Doug ThorpeRead More