A stirring portrait exploring the intersections of three generations of an Othodox Jewish family. David Birnbaum is a middle-aged man at the crossroads--of youth and old age, of Othodox Judaism and assimilation, of the well-worn past and an uncertain future. He is also at the dramatic center of this sensative, often funny chronicle of three generations of a family straining to hold together in the face of changing cultures and shifting fortunes. Throughout this extraordinary book, David struggles with the mixed loyalties he has felt since childhood and that continue to haunt his present and future. Capturing the hopes and conflicts of a Jewish family, from its most assimilated to its most Orthodox members,Like Never Beforeexudes on every page a poignancy and truthfulness that will print themselves indelibly on readers' minds.

Ehud Havazelet is the author of the critically acclaimed collection of stories <b>What Is It Then between Us?</b> He teaches at Oregon State University and the Warren Wilson M.F.A. Program for Writers, and lives in Corvallis, Oregon.