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THE WAY OF FORGIVENESS

Stephen Mitchell

A Story About Letting Go

"A unique and special kind of masterpiece."?John Banville

In The Way of Forgiveness, the distinguished writer and translator Stephen Mitchell provides a stirring account of the power and wisdom of forgiveness.

Based on the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers?a beautiful, brilliant, arrogant young man is sold into slavery but eventually rises to become viceroy of Egypt?The Way of Forgiveness is a riveting expansion, lush with vivid characters and a captivating sense of place. What's new here is the lyrical, witty, vivid prose, informed by a wisdom that brings fresh insight to this foundational legend of betrayal and all-embracing forgiveness.

Mitchell's retelling interweaves the narrative with brief meditations that, with their Zen surprises, expand and illuminate the main themes. The engrossing tale that he has created will capture the hearts and minds of modern readers and show them that this ancient story can still challenge, delight, and astonish.

First published as JOSEPH AND THE WAY OF FORGIVNESS. A Biblical Story Retold. (St. Martin's 2019)

Stephen Mitchell was born in Brooklyn in 1943, educated at Amherst, the Sorbonne, and Yale, and de-educated through intensive Zen training. His many books include the bestselling Tao Te Ching, Gilgamesh, The Gospel According to Jesus, Bhagavad Gita, The Book of Job,The Second Book of the Tao, The Selected Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Beowulf. He is also the coauthor of three of his wife Byron Katie's bestselling books: Loving What Is, A Thousand Names for Joy, and A Mind at Home with Itself.
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Published 2019-09-01 by St. Martin's Press

Comments

Evoking the ancient Jewish art of Midrash, Mitchell has now novelized this timeless story, bringing to it a touch of metafiction, and a sometimes breezy and insouciant but always reverent style. Richly imagined and told in bite-size chapters, the story is compulsively readable and inspirational. It's a timeless tale retold in a timeless fashion. ? Booklist

Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness is a beautiful ‘retelling of one of the most profound and moving passages in the Bible. Stephen Mitchell has fashioned a deceptively simple version of the story of Joseph and his brothers, and given it back to the world in luminous prose that the authors of the King James Version would applaud. A unique and special kind of masterpiece. ?John Banville

Chinese (complex): Cite Publishing Ltd.

Exceptionally written and scripturally loyal, this is a fine achievement.?Kirkus (Starred Review)

Stephen Mitchell is a tireless curator of wisdom, whose life's work is nothing less than the study of human transformation. With Joseph and the Way of Forgiveness, Mitchell has reached back in time to one of our oldest stories of grace and brought its lessons forward to us. The heart cannot help but be moved and healed by the treasure to be found in these pages. ?Elizabeth Gilbert

[A] captivating contemporary retelling of the biblical story of Joseph"?Publisher's Weekly