Synopses & Reviews
In late 1999, in the midst of a brutal hurricane on the Baltic coast, a concrete prison barge rips free of its moorings. Of thousands of Europe's most dangerous criminals, only the twelve depraved souls in cell block 306 survive. One of the twelve is their Savior. As word spreads of the Second Coming, some think the "Messiah" is a fraud, some think he is deluded, and many, with a deep need to believe, do so. The new messiah must meet the press, the lawyers, the cops, and the swindlers, all of them vying for a piece of the action en route to the only place a modern Second Coming would occur--a theme park ruled by a rodent--as the celestial clock ticks down to '00.
Rife on the surface with Bukiet's trademark black humor and rage toward a malevolent God, Signs and Wonders seethes with incisive and courageous commentary on history, religious faith, and mankind at the end of this century.
Review
"
Signs and Wonders does not flinch from confronting images of God and punching them in the face. . . . He cements his place among the machers of Jewish literature."--
The Chicago Tribune"Ferocious. . . . Bukiet's blend of storytelling brio and audacious imagination calls to mind such disparate maximalists as the Salman Rushdie of Midnight's Children and the Mark Helprin of Winter's Tale. . . . Signs and Wonders is both thrilling reading and deeply intelligent commentary that dares to ask timeless questions." --Dan Cryer, Salon
About the Author
Melvin Jules Bukiet is the author of
After, While the Messiah Tarries, Stories of an Imaginary Childhood, and
Sandman's Dust. He teaches writing at Sarah Lawrence College and writes and reviews regularly for
The Paris Review, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, and
The Los Angeles Times. He lives in New York City.