In the original dustsheet. Black cloth spine with gilt title. Tan Boards.

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Elevated to celebrity by his best-selling book, psychology professor Cass Seltzer finds his relationship with a fellow theorist challenged by a former girlfriend’s invitation to join her biochemistry experiment in immortality, an effort that is further complicated by his ongoing quest to understand religion.

Reviews:

• Rebecca Goldstein is a rare find among novelists: not only a big imagination but also a sharp analytic brain behind the scenes. She writes books that reward serious thought. For anyone who has moral scruples about reading novels during daylight hours this is a huge bonus. The 36 arguments are such delicious hokum, so often trotted out in earnest yet so flimsy, that a lampoon like this book is the only adult response to their emergence in public discourse. And the characters! Don’t get me started. I recognized the real-life originals (yes, living, breathing souls) for her cartoon figures and saw them in all their sensual glory as the tale unfolded. On the other hand (ahem), some of the intellectual set-pieces explaining technical details for lamer readers did come over as the day job intruding into what would otherwise have been sweeter indulgences, but then again that touch of astringency is just what my ascetic palate, for one, finds most titillating. Any philosopher whose soul has been hung out long enough to dry will love the impish glee behind the caricatures of pomp and academic circumstance on parade here. The tale also presents a diorama of strangely anachronistic and dysfunctional Judaism in action, but with just the lightness of touch and compassion for its oddity that redeems the social commentary and lets the reader off the judgmental hook. Altogether, any readers who can savor the high life of the mind so scurrilously trashed here will hoot with joy as they read this gem.

• I picked this up at the airport out of desperation (it’s really hard to escape those chick lit books in the airport!) and was well rewarded. As other reviewers have said it is very well written: in parts an enjoyable satire on academic life and, I thought, a very thought-provoking tour through the philosophical arguments in favour of or against the existence of god (and a useful summary at the end in the oft-referred-to appendix). I read it just after I had read Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead and one made an interesting counterpoint to the other – different attitudes to the consideration of god. I do recommend this as well, but Gilead got 5 stars because the writing is of a different order – absolutely fantastic.

• After reading Richard Dawkins praise for Rebecca Goldstein i remembered that I had read her excellent book about Spinoza–a book i would suggest any intelligent person who is interested in the history of human thought should read, by the way–so I bought a second hand copy of this work and have seldom enjoyed a book so much! I found that this lady has captured the essence of the Jewish existential experience! It is a truly remarkable view of the strange world we inhabit, with one foot in a culture which is rich in symbolism, community life, shared joys and absolutely balmy and irrational beliefs. The book is, I believe, a thinly veiled description of a very sensitive and nice Jewish atheist, someone like the wonderful Sam Harris (whose books you should also read) who is building up to a debate with an inflated madman, someone like William Lane Craig. It is superbly written and so funny I laughed out loud much to the annoyance of a great number of those around me! The only possible drawback is the rich and accurate cultural descriptions which must be difficult for the average guy to understand! Well, if you fall into that category I can only suggest you try it and see!! A great and enjoyable book. I only wish I knew how to contact Ms Goldstein’s brother, an Orthodox Rabbi, to get his impression of the work!!!!

• Rebecca Goldstein’s 2009 novel “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” has the rare accomplishment of succeeding both as a story and as a work of ideas. The characters in the book come to life in their individual situations rather than as stick-figures for arguments. The philosophical questions the book addresses arise from the story line. Goldstein explores the questions engagingly rather than didactically. She shows respect and consideration for positions she does not adopt. The primary philosophical question the book addresses is whether God exists; the penultimate chapter of the book consists of a lengthy, staged debate on the issue at Harvard. But the book probes even further as it considers the psychology of religious belief and why the question of God’s existence continues to excite mind and passion in contemporary life. The question of belief in God may be a misplaced issue in understanding religious life. This lengthy novel moves in tone from satirical to serious. The scenes and characters shift frequently between chapters, making it difficult to keep up in places. Besides discussing God and religion, Goldstein’s novel focuses on the question of finding a self, and finding love. The book also includes a lengthy satire on academia. The primary character, Cass Seltzer, is a psychologist at a Massachusetts university who has just attained success with this book, “The Varieties of Religious Illusion”. The book, of course, alludes to William James’ study “The Variety of Religious Experience” (as well as to Freud’s “The Future of an Illusion”). William James echoes throughout Goldstein’s novel.

•  The book traces Seltzer’s life beginning with his childhood. His parents were Orthodox Jews who in adulthood abandoned Judaism. Seltzer’s father, a physician, hoped Cass would follow his career path. His mother was raised in a small Hasidic town but she abandoned Hasidism and any form of Jewish practice. Seltzer had been pre-med but an encounter with a charismatic professor, Jonas Elijah Klapper, changed has path and resulted in his fascination with religion and ultimately in his book. The brilliant, verbose, dictatorial Klapper is satirized throughout this novel for his dogmatic rigidity, pompousness, criticism of science, and control over the lives of his graduate students. He is nevertheless a key influence on Seltzer. Seltzer has had difficulty with women in his life, as the novel describes his past and continuing relationships with a series of women, all of whom are academics of various kinds. Goldstein describes the breadth and excitement of the life of the mind. Goldstein’s book also illustrates the pettiness, competitiveness, quests for gender-issue related independence and space, and, frequently, the difficulty of finding love in intellectual life. A substantial part of this novel is set in the small fictitious community of Hasidic Jews in New York State in which Seltzer’s mother had grown up. Klapper and Seltzer become drawn to the community during Seltzer’s days as a graduate student. He becomes fascinated with the way of life of the Hasidim, with the Rebbe, and with the Rebbe’s son, a 6 year old mathematica prodigy, Azarya. The author and her character, Cass Seltzer, are pulled in many different ways by religion and by its significance in human life. Raised herself in an Orthodox Jewish home, Goldstein feels the force of religion and considers it respectfully. The argumentative sections of the book display a well thought-through and articulated skepticism about God’s existence. The book includes as well an Appendix, modeled on the Appendix of Seltzer’s fictitious “The Varieties of Religious Illusion” considering and analyzing succinctly 36 proffered arguments for God’s existence. The final scene of the book is set among the Hasidim who, mostly ignorant of life elsewhere in the contemporary United States and of academia, pursue their path with joy. Goldstein’s novel is both intellectually challenging and enjoyable and gripping to read. Readers of far differing views on God and religion have praised the book, and deservedly so. I found the novel insightful and liberating. Readers who have struggled with religious questions in their lives will benefit from exploring their questions with Rebecca Goldstein in “36 Arguments for the Existence of God.”

Rebecca Goldstein is a MacArthur Fellow, a professor of philosophy, and the author of five novels and a collection of short stories. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.