"In this fascinating read, Robert Lewis Berman extensively researches and records the history of a Jewish community located in an unlikely city, Lexington, Mississippi. Since the first Jewish settlers arrived in the late 1800s, the resilient society has peacefully prospered. Their synagogue, Temple Beth El, still stands among a sea of Christian churches. Each chapter contains a profile of a community member and their inspiring story of life in Lexington. Berman's recollections of growing up as a Jew in the predominanatly Christian South are also sprinkled throughout the book."--Jacket.

"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999 Acclaimed for its masterful new translation and insightful commentary, The David Story is a fresh, vivid rendition of one of the great works in Western literature. Robert Alter's brilliant translation gives us David, the beautiful, musical hero who slays Goliath and, through his struggles with Saul, advances to the kingship of Israel. But this David is also fully human: an ambitious, calculating man who navigates his life's course with a flawed moral vision. The consequences for him, his family, and his nation are tragic and bloody. Historical personage and full-blooded imagining, David is the creation of a literary artist comparable to the Shakespeare of the history plays.

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