The Martin Buber Reader: Essential Writings

Martin Buber, one of the greatest Jewish thinkers of the 20th century, had a career that spanned more than six decades. How, then, to gather the most representative pieces of his work into a collection that is still accessible? In The Martin Buber Reader: Essential Writings, Asher Biemann collects 32 essays and excerpts from all periods of Buber's career, from his 1903 article ""On the Jewish Renaissance"" to a 1956 treatise on ""Hasidism and Modern Man."" Biemann organizes Buber's writings topically, including sections on the Bible, Jewish religiosity, Hasidism, dialogue, philosophy, community and Zionism. This is just a small portion of Buber's corpus, since he also dabbled in fiction, poetry, playwriting and aesthetic criticism. However, it is a fine tribute to Buber as we are most likely to remember him today: as a major Jewish philosopher. Biemann's introduction is a rather dense intellectual history, but helpfully places the various works in context.