Liel Leibovitz

This illuminating biography focuses as much on Stan Lee's ideas as it does on his rise to stardom. It surveys his cultural and religious upbringing and draws surprising connections between celebrated comic book heroes and the ancient tales of the Bible, the Talmud, and Jewish mysticism....

For numerous centuries, the Talmud—an extraordinary work of Jewish ethics, law, and tradition—has compelled readers to grapple with how to live a good life. Full of folk legends, bawdy tales, and rabbinical repartee, it is inspiring, demanding, confounding, and thousands of pages long. As...

"With its surging storyline, extraordinary events, and depth of character, this gripping tale of 120 Chinese boys sent to America . . . reads more like a novel than an obscure slice of history."—Publishers Weekly, starred review In 1872, China—ravaged by poverty, population growth, and...