Alter has provided another introduction to the field of literary approaches to the OT that is practical and easily understood. The chapters on allusion and parallelism are helpful for techniques. More a collection of essays than a volume with a single thesis, the chapters which review the New JPS Torah Commentaries and Bloom’s book on the source J may not prove of as much interest or use. Fewer pleas about allegiance to higher criticism and more attention to the Ancient Near Eastern context which Alter claims to find important would have been welcome. However, the pleas for a recognition of the literary nature of the Bible, which begin and end the book, should be read by all interested in its interpretation.

---