Synopses & Reviews
Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented an application that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. But in Egypt’s postrevolutionary chaos, Josie is abducted—leaving Judith free to take over Josie’s life at home, including her husband and daughter, while Josie’s talent for preserving memories becomes a surprising test of her empathy and her only means of escape.
A century earlier, another traveler arrives in Egypt: Solomon Schechter, a Cambridge professor hunting for a medieval archive hidden in a Cairo synagogue. Both he and Josie are haunted by the work of the medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides, a doctor and rationalist who sought to reconcile faith and science, destiny and free will. But what Schechter finds, as he tracks down the remnants of a thousand-year-old community’s once-vibrant life, will reveal the power and perils of what Josie’s ingenious work brings into being: a world where nothing is ever forgotten.
An engrossing adventure that intertwines stories from Genesis, medieval philosophy, and the digital frontier, A Guide for the Perplexed is a novel of profound inner meaning and astonishing imagination.
Review
"What do computerized data storage, sibling rivalry, the Book of Ruth, and Egyptian uncertainty after the Arab Spring have in common? They’re all part of this latest work about two crucial aspects of being human: the ability to remember and to love. Horn has already proven herself by being named one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists and winning two National Jewish Book Awards. A sure bet." Library Journal
Review
"[An] intense, multilayered story... Horn's writing comes from a place of deep knowledge..." Jami Attenberg
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"Readers will be taken in by this literary thriller's fast-paced plot and complicated but well-imaged characters. A sure bet." Library Journal
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"It's not every day you come across a genuinely page-turning kidnapping story that is also replete with historical, psychological, and interpretive insights into Maimonides, envy, and motherhood, not to mention replicating the narrative structure and central themes of the biblical story of Joseph. is Dara Horn's most ambitious, audacious, edifying, and entertaining novel yet." Elif Batuman, author of The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
Review
"[] is so beautiful, so mystical, so exciting... I really urge you to read Dara Horn." Elif Batuman, author of The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
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"Dara Horn's fourth, and best.... [A] humane, erudite novel." Bill Goldstein NBC's Weekend Today Show
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"Horn moves seamlessly back and forth in time." Boston Globe
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"Intricate and suspenseful, is both learned and heartfelt, an exploration of human memory, its uses and misuses, that spans centuries in a twisty braid full of jaw dropping revelations and breathtaking reversals. An elegant and brainy page-turner from a master storyteller." Entertainment Weekly
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"A work marked by brilliant conceits and clever plotting." Geraldine Brooks, Pulitzer Prize winner and author of Caleb's Crossing
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"[Within ] beats the living heart of a very human drama, one that will have readers both caught up in the suspense and moved by the tragic dimensions of the unresolved dilemma at the core of the story." Kirkus Reviews
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"Horn is embracing her own, livelier brand of Jewish history, embodied in the joys of discovering-and creating-the past anew." Booklist, Starred Review
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"Wondrous...a richly layered novel.... Horn has magically summoned the wisdom of the ages to address a most contemporary dilemma...riveting and suspenseful.... A novelist at the height of her powers." Tablet Magazine
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" is a richly layered book that leaves a reader...grateful and impressed." Andrew Ferman Miami Herald
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"[A Guide for the Perplexed] is so beautiful, so mystical, so exciting… I really urge you to read Dara Horn." Elif Batuman, author of < em=""> The Possessed: Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them < m="">
Review
"Dara Horn's fourth, and best…. [A] humane, erudite novel." NBC's Weekend Today Show
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"A spellbinding story…a novel of astounding imagination and profound meaning." Tablet Magazine
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"[Horn] is first, and foremost, a storyteller, yet these stories carry [her] readers higher and further [sic] than many of her contemporaries do with dazzling prose…its three hundred pages fly by…. Where Horn’s novel shines most, and most darkly, is in its central plot." Jewish Book World
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"Dara Horn’s writing never disappoints." Jewish Review of Books
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"Lends itself to meaningful discussion." Jewish Ledger
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"A Guide for the Perplexed affirms Jewish survival." Howard Freeman, Directof of the San Francisco Jewish Community Library
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"A Guide for the Perplexed is a richly layered book that leaves a reader…grateful and impressed." Jewish Journal
Synopsis
A thrilling new novel exploring how memory shapes the soul, by “an astonishing storyteller” (Ángel Gurría-Quintana, Financial Times).
Synopsis
Software prodigy Josie Ashkenazi has invented a program that records everything its users do. When an Egyptian library invites her to visit as a consultant, her jealous sister Judith persuades her to go. But in Egypt’s postrevolutionary chaos, Josie is kidnapped—leaving Judith free to usurp her sister’s life, including her husband and daughter, while Josie’s talent for preserving memories becomes her only hope of escape.
A century earlier, Solomon Schechter, a Cambridge professor, hunts for a medieval archive hidden in a Cairo synagogue. What he finds will reveal the power and danger of the world Josie’s work brings into being: a world where nothing is ever forgotten.
Interweaving stories from Genesis, medieval philosophy, and the digital frontier, A Guide for the Perplexed is a spellbinding tale sure to bring a vast new readership to the acclaimed work of Dara Horn.
Synopsis
The incomparable Dara Horn returns with a spellbinding novel of how technology changes memory and how memory shapes the soul.
About the Author
Dara Horn, the author of the novels All Other Nights, The World to Come, and In the Image, is one of Granta’s "Best Young American Novelists" and the winner of two National Jewish Book Awards. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and four children.