This is by no means a review. I find Bloom stimulating in all his various books even if frequently obscure and discursive. He incites me to want to know more. This book is no different. Don't know much about Kabbalah? Well, don't look here for answers (Bloom himself encourages you to seek out Gershom Sholem's work in the field). Instead you'll find insights into reading and interpretation, for this is what Bloom's entire oeuvre is really about--how we discover meaning in all aspects of human endeavor.

This book is a wonderful tease on one hand--name-dropping in an esoteric field is always interesting and makes me want to search out those "formidable" authors--and an attempt to fill in some of the gaps in Bloom's readers' knowledge--he's been talking Kabbalah from the beginning and in this dedicated volume you begin to really understand its hold on him.

Short and sweet and worth the effort.