By
– January 9, 2012
In traditional Jewish lore, the hero is the nebbish, the one who underwhelms you. Jonathon Keats presents a lovely little book, in which the least likely men and women carry the day, and more than that, carry the world.
As explained in the fictional ‘author’s preface,’ the Lamed-Vav are the thirty-six righteous people needed at any one time to maintain the Creation. This preface, along with an equally fictitious ‘editors afterward’ nicely frame tales of valor in unexpected people; human (and sometimes not), distancing the stories and giving them a fairy tale aura. Befitting the setting, there are moral lessons here, and comments on interpersonal behavior.
The writing is deceptively simple. The Book of the Unknown is delightfully entertaining, but why only twelve Tales? Perhaps Jonathan Keats will give us Volumes II and III? Please?
Sydelle Shamah has been leading book club discussions for many years, and is a published science fiction writer. She was president of the Ruth Hyman Jewish Community Center of Monmouth County, NJ.
