In this inventive and satiric tour de force, Skibell presents an unforgettable character—Dr. Jakob Sammelsohn, a fairly incurable romantic venturing optimistically through modern history. The story begins in early 1895 Austria, where Sammelsohn encounters luminaries like Sigmund Freud and his famous patient, Emma Eckstein. As Jakob’s journey unfolds, it takes him from Vienna to the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940, weaving together love, science, and unexpected twists. A picaresque novel of exile, it’s a literary feat that combines tradition, history, and originality.
