MAGICIAN OF LUBLIN

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THE MAGICIAN OF LUBLIN (orig. published in print in 1960) tells the story of Yasha, a talented magician who performs throughout Poland in the last 1800's. He has the talent to pick any lock, escape any barrier. A non-observant Jew, Yasha finds that his abilities to juggle before an audience extend to the lives he must juggle off-stage. While his religious, dutiful wife waits for him at home, his many mistresses eagerly await his next trip to the city. Yasha Mazur, the main character, is a Jewish Don Juan, consumed with restlessness and expressing it through a myriad of affairs. Caught between shtetl values and theatrical sophistication, Yasha is confronted with the greatest challenge of his life. How he escapes, and ultimately finds his own true self, is a parable of man's ongoing search for personal meaning.