About the Author

Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Berkeley.

Reviews

"You think you know these texts ... until you read Alter, who reignites their beauty in bracing and unexpected ways." -- Malcolm Jones - Newsweek "Alter is musically and poetically sensitive... [He] takes us back to the essence of the meaning." -- James Wood - The New Yorker "A considerable achievement... Alter holds me to his darkly economical texts." -- Harold Bloom - New York Review of Books "Every reader of this translation will be led towards fresh thoughts and will discover favorites that inspire the imagination in new, rich ways." -- Walter Brueggemann - Christian Century "In his compelling and swiftly moving translations, Alter has thrust the reader back to the place where the monotheistic religions were born out of even more ancient beginnings." -- Jewish Book World "The achievement of this new translation is to present the Book of Psalms as a wonder of ancient literature." -- The Tablet

"You think you know these texts ... until you read Alter, who reignites their beauty in bracing and unexpected ways." -- Malcolm Jones - Newsweek "Alter is musically and poetically sensitive... [He] takes us back to the essence of the meaning." -- James Wood - The New Yorker "A considerable achievement... Alter holds me to his darkly economical texts." -- Harold Bloom - New York Review of Books "Every reader of this translation will be led towards fresh thoughts and will discover favorites that inspire the imagination in new, rich ways." -- Walter Brueggemann - Christian Century "In his compelling and swiftly moving translations, Alter has thrust the reader back to the place where the monotheistic religions were born out of even more ancient beginnings." -- Jewish Book World "The achievement of this new translation is to present the Book of Psalms as a wonder of ancient literature." -- The Tablet