Leslie Epstein is a contemporary American novelist, critic, and educator. The fact that he is a comic writer who addresses serious subjects has proven controversial in the critical assessment of his work, particularly his treatment of the Holocaust. Though Epstein occasionally denies it, his choice of characters, subject matter, and even his cadence and diction clearly identify him as a Jewish writer. One of his major themes is alienation. His characters are Diaspora Jews, displaced from their homeland, forced to make their way in settings for which their early lives did not prepare them. As aliens in the dominant culture, they confront the major forces of their time and place, whether it be cruelty to Native Americans in the Wild West, greed in Hollywood, or the multiple horrors of the ghetto of Lodz. While some argue that his use of comedy and fantasy enhances the moral seriousness of...