Soon to be featured in the Ken Burns documentary The U.S. and the Holocaust, premiering on PBS September 18th
A New York Times Notable Book • Winner of the National Jewish Book Award • Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award • A Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist
“A gripping detective story, a stirring epic, a tale of ghosts and dark marvels, a thrilling display of scholarship, a meditation on the unfathomable mystery of good and evil, a testimony to the enduring power of the ancient archetypes that haunt one Jewish family and the greater human family, The Lost is as complex and rich with meaning and story as the past it seeks to illuminate. A beautiful book, beautifully written.”—Michael Chabon
In this rich and riveting narrative, a writer''s search for the truth behind his family''s tragic past in World War II becomes a remarkably original epic—part memoir, part reportage, part mystery, and part scholarly detective work—that brilliantly explores the nature of time and memory, family and history.
The Lost begins as the story of a boy who grew up in a family haunted by the disappearance of six relatives during the Holocaust—an unmentionable subject that gripped his imagination from earliest childhood. Decades later, spurred by the discovery of a cache of desperate letters written to his grandfather in 1939 and tantalized by fragmentary tales of a terrible betrayal, Daniel Mendelsohn sets out to find the remaining eyewitnesses to his relatives'' fates. That quest eventually takes him to a dozen countries on four continents and forces him to confront the wrenching discrepancies between the histories we live and the stories we tell. And it leads him, finally, back to the small Ukrainian town where his family''s story began, and where the solution to a decades-old mystery awaits him.
Deftly moving between past and present, interweaving a world-wandering odyssey with childhood memories of a now-lost generation of immigrant Jews and provocative ruminations on biblical texts and Jewish history, The Lost transforms the story of one family into a profound, morally searching meditation on our fragile hold on the past. Deeply personal, grippingly suspenseful, and beautifully written, this literary tour de force illuminates all that is lost, and found, in the passage of time.
Industry Reviews
"A stunning achievement. . . . Extraordinary." -- Rebecca Goldstein, The New York Observer "A beautiful book, beautifully written." -- Michael Chabon "A stirring detective work, The Lost is . deepened by reflections on the inescapable part that chance plays in history." -- J. M. Coetzee "A grand book, an ambitious undertaking fully realized."--The Forward "Stunning. . . . A singular achievement, a work of major significance and pummeling impact."--Samuel G. Freedman, The Chicago Tribune "A stirring detective work, The Lost is ... deepened by reflections on the inescapable part that chance plays in history."--J. M. Coetzee "Hugely ambitious yet intensely engaging. . . . Absorbing, novelistic. . . . Thought-provoking and original."--Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Times Book Review (front cover) "A beautiful book, beautifully written."--Michael Chabon "The Lost is a sensitively written book that constantly asks itself the most difficult questions about history and memory."--BookForum "Epic and personal, meditative and suspenseful, tragic and at times hilarious, The Lost is a wonderful book."--Jonathan Safran Foer "A stunning memoir. . . . As suspenseful as a detective thriller, and as difficult to put down."--Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine "The Lost is the most gripping, the most amazing true story I have read in years."--Charles Simic, The New York Review of Books "Daniel Mendelsohn has written a powerfully moving work of a "lost" family past. . . . A remarkable achievement."--Joyce Carol Oates "A magnificent and deeply wise book. . . . Mesmerizing. . . . Mendelsohn's accomplishment is enormous."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review "An excellent memoir. . . . The Lost . . . brings to life the struggle of an entire generation."--People (four stars) "Mendelsohn, a classicist, creates a stunning Odyssey here, an epic world-wandering."--Garry Wills "A stunning achievement. . . . Extraordinary."--Rebecca Goldstein, The New York Observer ""The Lost" is a sensitively written book that constantly asks itself the most difficult questions about history and memory."--BookForum "A stirring detective work, "The Lost" is ... deepened by reflections on the inescapable part that chance plays in history."--J. M. Coetzee "Mendelsohn, a classicist, creates a stunning "Odyssey" here, an epic world-wandering."--Garry Wills Epic and personal, meditative and suspenseful, tragic and at times hilarious, The Lost is a wonderful book. --Jonathan Safran Foer" An excellent memoir. . . . The Lost . . . brings to life the struggle of an entire generation. --People (four stars)" A stunning memoir. . . . As suspenseful as a detective thriller, and as difficult to put down. --Francine Prose, O, The Oprah Magazine" A beautiful book, beautifully written. --Michael Chabon" "The Lost" is a sensitively written book that constantly asks itself the most difficult questions about history and memory. --BookForum" A grand book, an ambitious undertaking fully realized. --The Forward" A magnificent and deeply wise book. . . . Mesmerizing. . . . Mendelsohn s accomplishment is enormous. --The Los Angeles Times Book Review" The Lost is the most gripping, the most amazing true story I have read in years. --Charles Simic, The New York Review of Books" Daniel Mendelsohn has written a powerfully moving work of a lost family past. . . . A remarkable achievement. --Joyce Carol Oates" A stunning achievement. . . . Extraordinary. --Rebecca Goldstein, The New York Observer" Hugely ambitious yet intensely engaging. . . . Absorbing, novelistic. . . . Thought-provoking and original. --Ron Rosenbaum, The New York Times Book Review (front cover)" A stirring detective work, "The Lost" is deepened by reflections on the inescapable part that chance plays in history. --J. M. Coetzee" Mendelsohn, a classicist, creates a stunning "Odyssey" here, an epic world-wandering. --Garry Wills" Stunning. . . . A singular achievement, a work of major significance and pummeling impact. --Samuel G. Freedman, The Chicago Tribune" "Mendelsohn, a classicist, creates a stunning Odyssey here, an epic world-wandering."--Garry Wills "A stirring detective work, The Lost is ... deepened by reflections on the inescapable part that chance plays in history."--J. M. Coetzee "The Lost is a sensitively written book that constantly asks itself the most difficult questions about history and memory."--BookForum
