This masterpiece of black humor has taken its place among the great classics of Holocaust literature. Set in Poland, it is the story of I.C. Trumpleman, the indiscreet director of an orphanage. When the Germans invade and the Jewish community is forced into a ghetto, Trumpleman is chosen as the head of a Judenrat, granted the power to decide who will live and who will starve. By turns a con man, charismatic leader, and merciless dictator, Trumpelman reveals himself as an extraordinarily complex protagonist.
King of the Jews continues to be an extraordinary vision of occupied Poland, and offers stunning insight through the trappings of history to questions of equal moral complexity today.
Leslie Epstein (1938–2025) was an award-winning author of eleven books of fiction, including the celebrated novels San Remo Drive and King of the Jews. His father and uncle, Philip G. and Julius J. Epstein, wrote Arsenic and Old Lace, Casablanca, and many other classics of the golden era of films. He taught at Boston University, where he directed the creative writing program for thirty-six years.
Edward Lewis (a.k.a. David Hilder) is a stage, film, and television actor. He has narrated unabridged audiobooks for over eighteen years and has recorded more than two hundred titles, spanning works of fiction and nonfiction.