Everybody Has Somebody in Heaven : Essential Jewish Tales of the Spirit [Hardcover]

Avram Davidson (Author), Grania Davidson Davis (Author), Jack Dann (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1930143109 | ISBN-13: 978-1930143104 | Publication Date: October 2000 | Edition: First Edition

The complete collection of the Jewish tales of this master-of -science fiction, including two never-before published stories. Provides an extensive biography of the author, who died in 1993, and symposium of the leading science fiction authors who discuss the author’s genius and talent.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This is the first time such science fiction/fantasy classics as The Golem and Nephillim have appeared together as part of a total anthology of the author’s Jewish stories. Each story presents a message which can be appreciated by both Jew and non-Jew, because it reveals the mystical, kabbalistic and other-worldly side to Jewish lore. Science fiction legends like Peter Beagle, Carl Carr, and Jack Dann reveal their own stories of this brilliant writer.

About the Author

Avram Davidson (1923-1993) served in U.S. army in World War II and in the Israeli Army during Israel’s War of Independence. These two experiences played heavily on his earlier works in Jewish Life and Commentary.

Avram was the editor of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and won numerous awards for his original writings including the Hugo Award for best science fiction story, the Elley Queen Award and Edgar Award for best mystery stories, and the Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the World Fantasy Convention.

Grania Davidson Davis is an accomplished writer in her own right. Her stories weave myth and legend into a wondrous tapestry that reflects her extensive travels to the orient. She was married to Avram Davidson, and collaborated with him on numerous short stories and novels.

Grania divides her time between her family, her cat “Laptop” in Marin County, California, and on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

Jack Dann has written and edited over fifty books, including the groundbreaking Jewish anthologies WANDERING STARS and MORE WANDERING STARS. He has received the Nebula Award and the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Australian Aurealis Award.

Jack lives in Melbourne, Australia and “commutes” back and forth to Los Angeles and New York.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Devora Publishing; First Edition edition (October 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930143109
• ISBN-13: 978-1930143104
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,577,749 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for Davidson fans, March 8, 2001

By 

Matthew Davis (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Everybody Has Somebody in Heaven : Essential Jewish Tales of the Spirit (Hardcover)

Seven years after his death yet another collection from Avram Davidson, compiled through the agencies of the indefatigueable Grania Davis. And like the last collection "The Investigations of Avram Davidson" this is a collection that expands our understanding of who Avram Davidson was and what he could accomplish as a writer.

The first section of the book is pieces that Davidson contributed to Jewish journals like "Jewish Life" and "Commentary" in the early and mid-50s before he began publishing in "F&SF" and "Ellery Queen". What they reveal is an Avram Davidson little shown in the fiction. Davidson had fought in World War II and then had spent the early 50s living in the newly formed state of Israel. Davidson's contributions to "Jewish Life" and "Commentary" are probably more directly autobiographical than any of his other writings. In general, they are not stories but detailed vignettes of his experiences in a New York where Judaism was in conflict with assimilationist impulses and of his time in Israel and the Mediterranean, which reveal not only that Davidson was always a skilful writer with an attentive eye but also the extent of his commitment to his faith. In an afterword/bibliography Eileen Gunn says that Davidson abandoned a novel based on his experiences - judging from these short pieces Davidson could probably have written the Israeli equivalent of John Hershey's "Hiroshima". The writing is clear and the emphasis is on the diversity of people who make up life in this emergent world, creating a sense of hope, strangeness, and of present that is already flowing into the past.

The middle section is a forum of Avram' s friends (Peter Beagle, Barry Malzberg) writing about their sense of him as a religious person.

The third section consists of Davidson's writings from later in his career that feature a strongly expressed Jewish or religious theme. Aside from a story from "The Adventures of Doctor Esterhazy" most of these are uncollected and many of them are previously unpublished, including two sections from an unfinished novel and one from an unpublished story-cycle. These are as good as one expects from Davidson, with his eye for detail, his erudition, his unique and peculiar narrative structures and always that that singular voice of his. Alongside his early pieces the reader can appreciate the developments in Davidson's sensibility and how he developed as a writer;from the external experiences of the man to the self-supporting full richness of his mind.