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Art theft, angels and neo-Nazis force a reckoning with the past in ‘The Tavern at the End of History’

JL;DR SUMMARY Morris Collins' novel "The Tavern at the End of History" explores the tensions between memory and morality through a story about art theft, the Holocaust, and human frailty. A way out west there was a fella, fella I want to tell you about, fella by the name of Jeff Lebowski. At least, that was the handle his lovin' parents gave him, but he never had much use for it himself. This Lebowski, he called himself the Dude. Now, Dude, that's a name no one would self-apply where I come from. But then, there was a lot about the Dude that didn't make a whole lot of sense to me. And a lot about where he lived, likewise. But then again, maybe that's why I found the place s'durned innarestin'.

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Tags

IdentityHolocaustKabbalahTraumaNeo NazisMemoryArt TheftMorris Collins

Places mentioned

Brooklyn, New York, United States
"At a park in Brooklyn, he meets Baer, an impoverished Orthodox man living in a ramshackle apartment with only a fat orange cat to keep him company."
Berlin, Germany
"After meeting Baruch at a conference in Berlin, Jacob became a devoted follower."
Maine, United States
"Jacob remained loyal and has agreed to meet with Baruch at his sanitarium in Maine the same weekend Baruch plans to auction off a sketch by the deceased Jewish artist Alexander Lurio."
Durham, North Carolina, United States
"Originally from Durham, NC, she is a 2024 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, where she majored in sociology."

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Cairo Item ID 75130
Cairo Source ID 35
Retrieved 2026-02-12 05:31:01 UTC
Curated 2026-02-12 08:31:16 UTC