"Ruth Franklin's new book, A Thousand Darknesses: Lies and Truth in Holocaust Fiction, is more than a towering work of criticism and insight -- it's an invaluable corrective." --The Atlantic "By scrupulously defending the integrity of literature, Ms. Franklin has offered her own eloquent testimony." --Wall Street Journal "Franklin explicates her central ideas with a piercing, graceful lucidity. a beautiful book that addresses the ugliest of subjects, proving, once more, that it can be done." --Washington Post "This text is superbly written and offers insightful analysis." --Library Journal "Ruth Franklin's keen analysis makes a major contribution to the literary criticism of Shoah writers, and her humane perspective renders the nuances of a fraught subject newly comprehensible." --Jewish Book Council ".

an honest effort to inject a little good sense and judgment into an understandably emotional subject." --Jewish Literary Review ".a brilliant, challenging and surprising work." --Jewish Journal "What A Thousand Darknesses does do, and does very well, is challenge us on every level of virtually every aspect of Holocaust literature. That the Holocaust is 'unknowable' doesn't mean that a lot of it can't be known. Literature lays bare the path to know what is knowable, and Franklin neatly shows us the way." --The Jewish Daily Forward "A Thousand Darknesses succeeds in forming a coherent whole that makes a powerful argument for the propriety of treating the Holocaust as a wellspring of literary art." --Commentary "Franlin is particularly astute in evaluating why the grayness of truth is important in a Holocaust work.

Not merely about the Holocaust, but about why we study history, why we read, and why we tell stories." --The Literary Review "[An] important work.Lucid, persuasive.Highly recommended."--CHOICE "Franklin's work of Holocaust literary criticism is excellent in its interpretations and a valuable read."--Cynthia Crane, H-Net Reviews.