The Four Wise Men

by Michel Tournier, Ralph Manheim (Translator)

Overview

"This may be more than a novel of high achievement, in fact; it may be the best work so far of a truly daring writer."—America

Displaying his characteristic penchant for the macabre, the tender and the comic, Michael Tournier presents the traditional Magi describing their personal odysseys to Bethlehem—and audaciously imagines a fourth, "the eternal latecomer"' whose story of hardship and redemption is the most moving and instructive of all. Prince of Mangalore and son of an Indian maharajah, Taor has tasted an exquisite confection, rachat loukoum, and is so taken by the flavor that he sets out to recover the recipe. His quest takes him across Western Asia and finally lands him in Sodom, where he is imprisoned in a salt mine. There, this fourth wise man learns the recipe from a fellow prisoner, and learns of the existence and meaning of Jesus.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780801857331
Publisher:	Johns Hopkins University Press
Publication date:	09/24/1997
Edition description:	REPRINT
Pages:	264
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.61(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Born in 1924, Michel Tournier studied philosophy and then became a journalist and a writer. He is the author of several novels, including The Ogre, Friday, and Gemini.

Editorial Reviews

The Four Wise Men struck me as a true masterpiece.
—Lewis Jones, New Statesman

A work of extraordinary clarity.
—Jonathan Baumbach, New York Times Book Review

There is a real touch of magic in this novel.
—The Atlantic

This is a novel of high achievement. Tournier works to assert an apologia of Christianity and its underlying message of love, and he does so with finely paced arguing, well-balanced counterarguing and, most importantly, genuine intellectual energy . . . This may be more than a novel of high achievement, in fact; it may be the best work so far of a truly daring writer.
—America

Tournier is an ambitious and profound writer.
—Washington Post

From the Publisher

Tournier is an ambitious and profound writer.

Washington Post

The Four Wise Men struck me as a true masterpiece.

New Statesman - Lewis Jones

This is a novel of high achievement. Tournier works to assert an apologia of Christianity and its underlying message of love, and he does so with finely paced arguing, well-balanced counterarguing and, most importantly, genuine intellectual energy . . . This may be more than a novel of high achievement, in fact; it may be the best work so far of a truly daring writer.

America

There is a real touch of magic in this novel.

The Atlantic

A work of extraordinary clarity.

New York Times Book Review - Jonathan Baumbach

"Tournier is an ambitious and profound writer."

Washington Post

"This is a novel of high achievement. Tournier works to assert an apologia of Christianity and its underlying message of love, and he does so with finely paced arguing, well-balanced counterarguing and, most importantly, genuine intellectual energy... This may be more than a novel of high achievement, in fact; it may be the best work so far of a truly daring writer."

America

A work of extraordinary clarity.

— Jonathan Baumbach

New York Times Book Review

The Four Wise Men struck me as a true masterpiece.

— Lewis Jones

New Statesman