"Exhilarating, provocative. . . . Bloom [enriches] his remarks with lively associations and frequent references to his beloved Shakespeare (did you know that Hamlet's divided personality has much in common with King David's?). . . . When [Bloom] praises the English translators of John's Gospel, he calls their interpretation 'dazzling in its audacity.' The same, of course, can be said of this book."--Nick Owchar, "Los Angeles Times"--Nick Owchar "Los Angeles Times "
"[A] product of decades of thought, this is an old man's book - wise while verging on the sentimental, pared down yet also self-indulgent, sometimes belligerent or desperate - whose overarching message should resonate nevertheless with readers of all generations."--Jackie Wullschlager, "Financial Times"--Jackie Wullschlager"Financial Times" (09/24/2011)
"A fascinating, intellectually nimble tour de force."--Yvonne Zipp, "Washington Post"--Yvonne Zipp "Washington Post "
"Ah, then there's Harold Bloom, America's giant of a literary critic. . . . In The Anatomy of Influence: Literature as a Way of Life, Bloom pulls off a masterly connecting of the dots through the literary canon and his own life with his usual breathtaking eloquence."--Publishers Weekly--Publishers Weekly (05/23/2011)
"Bloom . . . has many arresting things to say and says them, often, with exquisite precision. He is, by any reckoning, one of the most stimulating literary presences of the last half-century - and one of the most protean, a singular breed of scholar-teacher-critic-prose-poet-pamphleteer."--Sam Tanenhaus, "New York Times Book Review"--Sam Tanenhaus"New York Times Book Review" (05/23/2011)
"Bloom celebrates King James not for anything so pedestrian as 'accuracy' but for what he himself has championed during his long and distinguished career as a literary critic: creative misreading."--Edward Alexander, "Chicago Jewish Star"--Edward Alexander "Chicago Jewish Star "
"Bloom reveals his own magisterial, sometimes mischievous, self in his meditations on the masters with whom he connects."--Iain Finlayson, The Times--Iain Finlayson (05/23/2011)
"Bloom's erudite mix of acerbic judgments (e.g., the New Testament's literary ugliness) and awed delight ('the biblical David is an incarnate poem') offers readers a fresh take on an old book."--"Publishers Weekly"--Publishers Weekly
"Exhilarating, provocative." --Nick Owchar, "Los Angeles Times"--Nick Owchar "Los Angeles Times "
"The book is invigorated by a passion. Bloom is evangelical on the genius of the King James Bible. He is excellent on the contribution of William Tyndale, "the authentic genius of English Bible Translation." He can be brilliantly perceptive on the "erotic magnetism" of Esther or flawed heroism of David. His brisk run through the prophets is fun and often convincing. "Jonah is a sulking, unwilling prophet, cowardly and petulant," he writes. "Elijah and Elisha are savage, Jeremiah is a bipolar depressive, Ezekiel a madman."--Hugh MacDonald, "Sunday Herald (Scotland)"--Hugh MacDonald"Sunday Herald (Scotland)" (10/30/2011)
One of the United States' most high-profile literary critics, Bloom self-identifies as "a Jew of Gnostic tendencies who neither trusts in the Covenant nor shares Christian faith in the Resurrection," and who sees Shakespeare as more of a god than God. One would, therefore, expect his take on the King James Bible to be studiedly provocative, and he does not disappoint."--Alison Shell "Church Times "