Foreskin's Lament

Shalom Auslander was raised with a terrified respect for God. Even as he grew up, defying and eventually being cast out of his community, he could not find his way to a life in which he wasn't locked in a daily struggle with Him. "Foreskin's Lament" is a rich and fascinating portrait of a man grappling with his faith, his family and his community.

'Bracing and witty . . . Never, frankly, can there have been a more blasphemous book . . . "Foreskin's Lament" somehow expresses the ideas of Richard Dawkins in the tone of David Sedaris. You can read it for the humour, you can read it as reportage into a secretive and bizarre world, you can read it as a personal tale of triumph over adversity, or you can just read it for the misery. It doesn't really matter. But do read it' William Sutcliffe, "Independent on Sunday "

'One of the funniest books I've ever read, killingly so' Hilary Spurling, "Observer"

'Exceptional . . . very, very funny' "Time Out"

'Painfully poignant and hilariously noir' "Jewish Chronicle"

'By turns hilarious and devastating . . . Few books are laugh-out-loud funny. This one is' Naomi Alderman, "Sunday Times"

'America's hottest, funniest, most controversial young Jewish memoirist . . . blackly hilarious, groundbreaking' "The Times"