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Moses in the Sinai rewrites the books of Exodus and Numbers by way of The Arabian Nights, Nikos Kazantzakis, and Cecil B. DeMille. It makes generous use of myth and history, ancient and contemporary. The Hebrews of the novel are a varied mob of outlaws, magicians, sorcerers, aristocrats, and idolators, all content with being slaves. Moses must lead them into the Sinai against their will in the hope of serving a God whose very identity he doubts. The Hebrews of this historical and imaginative novel inhabit a world where children are born in cooking pots, meat rains from the sky, fish talk, and prophecies come true. It is a world where human emotion can take miraculous forms. Moses in the Sinai is full of such miracles.
About the author
Simone Zelitch was born and raised in Philadelphia. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan. In the early 1990's she was on the first Peace Corps contingent to Hungary. She has traveled extensively in England, Central Europe, and Israel to research her novels. She teaches creative writing at college level in Philadelphia.
Summary
Rewrites the books of "Exodus" and "Numbers". This book makes generous use of myth and history, ancient and contemporary, and the Hebrews of the novel are a varied mob of outlaws, magicians, sorcerers, aristocrats, and idolators, all content with being slaves.
