{"product_id":"9780805087253","title":"The Buried Book : The Loss and Rediscovery of the Great Epic of Gilgamesh","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThe Buried Book\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): David Damrosch\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAdventurers, explorers, kings, gods, and goddesses come to life in this \"useful, entertaining and informative\" story of the first great epic (\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComposed in Middle Babylonia around 1200 BCE, \u003ci\u003eThe Epic of Gilgamesh \u003c\/i\u003eforeshadowed later stories that would become as fundamental as any in human history: \u003ci\u003eThe Odyssey \u003c\/i\u003eand the Bible. But in 600 BCE, the clay tablets that bore the story were lost to the world, buried beneath ashes and ruins.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDavid Damrosch begins with the rediscovery of the epic in 1872 and from there goes backward in time, all the way to Gilgamesh himself. \u003ci\u003eThe Buried Book \u003c\/i\u003eis an illuminating tale of history as it was written, stolen, lost, and—after 2,000 years and countless battles, conspiracies, and revelations—finally found.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An altogether compelling narrative of a crucial episode in cultural history. This is a book that vividly demonstrates why humanism matters and how it is enhanced by exercising an unconventionally broad reach.” —\u003ci\u003eRobert Alter, author of The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, and Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eThe Buried Book \u003c\/i\u003eis a thrilling intellectual adventure: a brilliant study of Gilgamesh, it is also a rich and complex narrative of colonialist adventurers, obsessed scholars, anxious theologians, and contemporary writers all caught up in the ancient epic's amazingly wide net.” —\u003ci\u003eStephen Greenblatt, author of Will In The World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“David Damrosch's \u003ci\u003eThe Buried Book\u003c\/i\u003e is a remarkably original, narrative analysis of the loss, rediscovery, and literary-spiritual values of the ancient epic, \u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e.  There is somber wisdom and wit in Damrosch's comprehensive story, which finds room for Philip Roth's \u003ci\u003eThe Great American Novel\u003c\/i\u003e and the murderous fictions of Saddam Hussein.  It is salutary to be reminded by Damrosch that ultimately we and Islam share a common literary culture that commenced with \u003ci\u003eGilgamesh\u003c\/i\u003e.” —\u003ci\u003eHarold Bloom, author of Where Shall Wisdom Be Found?\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780805087253\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Holt Paperbacks","offers":[{"title":"Paperback \/ softback","offer_id":40670925258958,"sku":"9780805087253","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_6120735c-ec89-49cf-a1e5-388d7210f4e1.jpg?v=1639796681","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780805087253","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}