Robert Alter in Conversation with Jonathan Kirsch (2009)

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

By: Robert Alter

Narrated by: Jonathan Kirsch

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books began in 1996 with a simple goal: to bring together the people who create books with the people who love to read them. The festival was an immediate success and has become the largest and most prestigious book festival in the country, attracting more than 130,000 book lovers each year.

Jonathan Kirsch is the author of 10 books on subjects such as religion and law, including the best seller A History of the End of the World. His most recent title is The Grand Inquisitor's Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God.

Robert Alter is the recipient of the 2008 Los Angeles Times Robert Kirsch Award. He is a professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at UC Berkeley. He has published many acclaimed works on the Bible, literary modernism and contemporary Hebrew literature. Alter's latest book is The Five Books of Moses.

©2009 Los Angeles Times (P)2009 Los Angeles Times