The men and women of Genesis, the great family story of Western civilization, come to life in all their surprising and unabashed humanity in this series of 73 sonnets by Judith Goldhaber, based on Jewish folktales and legends, each illustrated by a watercolor painting by Gerson Goldhaber. Here Eve confronts her rival . . .. . . Cain learns the facts of life and death . . . Noah bakes bran muffins on the Ark . . . Sarah greets a miracle with rude laughter . . . the angel of death begs God to send somebody else! . . . Jacob has a conversation with a wolf . . . Joseph hides a silver goblet in Benjamin s luggage . . and all of them argue stubbornly with God. Poet Judith Goldhaber and illustrator Gerson Goldhaber s previous book was Sonnets from Aesop (Ribbonweed Press, 2005), winner of the Independent Publisher Outstanding Book of the Year Award. Those are some of the bouquets that pre-publication reviewers are tossing at SARAH LAUGHED: Sonnets From Genesis, coming this fall from Ribbonweed Press. A sparkling rendition of the tales of Genesis, filled with insight, pathos and humor. The poetry and illustrations work their magic together, delighting the eye and beckoning the mind to wonder." (Daniel Matt, The Essential Kabbalah) Utterly charming, poem and icon, and cunning way to miraculous Genesis. In the best tradition . . . it illumines the Abrahamic religions. (Willis Barnstone, The Secret Reader) Humorous and magical . . . Provides both a fresh perspective for adults and a fun and memorable way to introduce children to the Bible . . . Gerson's Chagall-like paintings add a mystical flavor, while Judith seems to have been born speaking in sonnets . . . (Jendi Reiter, A Talent for Sadness) Another delight, in the pattern set by Sonnets from Aesop . . . It probes wonderfully through poetry and visual image into a world that is humane, imaginative, surprising. . . . (Reverend Gregory I. Carlson, S.J., Curator, Carlson Fable Collection) Skillful iambic pentameters psychologize well-known Bible tales with not just wit, but wisdom, compassion, and mystery. (Peter Dale Scott, Crossing Borders)
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About the Author
Sarah Laughed is the second collaboration between poet Judith Goldhaber and artist Gerson Goldhaber, a husband-and-wife team from Berkeley, California. Their first book, Sonnets from Aesop (Ribbonweed Press) won the Independent Publishers Book Award (IPPY) as one of the ten best books published by an independent or university press in 2005. Judith Goldhaber is a poet, playwright, science writer, and journalist. Her poems have appeared in the National Poetry Review, The Garfield Lake Review, Prism, the Jewish Quarterly, Astropoetica, the Literary Review, and Byline. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award for Poems on the Jewish Experience, the National Poetry Review s Annie Finch Prize, and the In the Beginning was the Word poetry contest (in two consecutive years). As a playwright, she has written the book and lyrics for two musicals based on the lives of great individuals in modern science. Her musical about Stephen Hawking, Falling Through a Hole in the Air, received a $5,000 grant from Paul Newman's "Newman's Own" Foundation. and won a prize in the Songs Judged as Poetry of the National Poetry Association. Her newest musical is about Einstein's "lost" daughter Lieserl. Gerson Goldhaber is professor of physics in the graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, and an artist who has worked in many media. His previous publications have been in the field of experimental particle physics and astrophysics. He is co-author of Experimental Foundations of Particle Physics (Cambridge University Press), and has written or co-authored over 250 papers reporting his research on elementary particles and cosmology. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Guggenheim fellow, and a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. He was named California Scientist of the Year in 1977, and is a winner of the Panofsky Prize of the American Physical Society.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imagine! Genesis as a page-turner!,
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This review is from: Sarah Laughed: Sonnets from Genesis (Paperback)
This amazing book is a telling of Genesis not only from the Bible but also from Jewish folklore and literature, so it's full of fascinating surprises. The sonnets are thoughtful and graceful, and the colorful paintings are Chagal-like and soul-satisfying. To tell the truth, I couldn't put it down--I had to keep turning page after page. I had already read Fables from Aesop by the same authors and am so happy to have discovered both wonderful books.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Genesis Shines with a New and Amazing Light!,
By John Howard Reid (Wyong, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Sarah Laughed: Sonnets from Genesis (Paperback)
The collaborative team of Judith Goldhaber (text) and Gerson Goldhaber (illustrations) that produced the absolutely charming and delightful Sonnets from Aesop can be welcomed back with the same degree of cheering and hat-tossing for "Sarah Laughed: Sonnets from Genesis". At first sight, Genesis would not seem particularly fertile ground for the quirky Goldhabers, but Judith has allowed herself to stray most pleasingly from the straight and narrow Masoretic text now and again. For instance, following Jewish legends which made an admirable attempt to combine the two conflicting "Creation" accounts preserved in Genesis, Adam is presented as a man with two wives. Eve, whom we all know, was the second. The first was Lilith. In both Arabic and Hebrew, the name means "woman from the night". According to legend, Lilith and Adam didn't get along, so she ran away, and God was forced to replace her with Adam's rib. Judith Goldhaber cleverly eschews the obvious cliches. Instead she presents Eve as a wife possessed by such jealousy for the headstrong runaway that she asks the serpent to tell her truly, "Was Lilith fair? Did Adam adore her?" This is indeed a book that can be savored and enjoyed both for its innate charm and its striking insights into some of the familiar Old Testament stories.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sarah Laughed: Sonnets from Genesis,
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This review is from: Sarah Laughed: Sonnets from Genesis (Paperback)
"Sarah Laughed" is a spectacularly delightful as well as significant little book. It presents the ancient Biblical stories in fresh, vivid, concise, and often humorous ways. The story of Cain and Abel amazes. The book has wonderful drawings starting with the cover. It is a fairly "quick read" and I consider it a perfect gift.
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