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Mann vs. God

JL;DR SUMMARY In the sprawling literary endeavor, "Joseph and His Brothers," Thomas Mann reimagines the Genesis tale of Joseph, intertwining Hebraic tradition with myriad influences from Christian, Islamic, and classical sources. 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

Joseph And His BrothersGenesisWestern CivilizationExileMidrashThomas MannGerman LiteratureHebraic TraditionChristian InfluencesLiterary Reimagination

Places mentioned

Germany
"Mann set out to construct his Babel: Joseph and His Brothers, a reimagination of the classic Genesis tale. It would take Mann 16 years and 2,000 pages before he considered the work complete. He began his project as a happy Weimar citizen, drafted it in Swiss exile from the Third Reich, and finished it a refugee beneath the California sun."
Switzerland
"He began his project as a happy Weimar citizen, drafted it in Swiss exile from the Third Reich, and finished it a refugee beneath the California sun."
California, United States
"He began his project as a happy Weimar citizen, drafted it in Swiss exile from the Third Reich, and finished it a refugee beneath the California sun."

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Cairo Item ID 86066
Cairo Source ID 10
Retrieved 2026-06-25 05:30:43 UTC
Curated 2026-06-25 08:30:28 UTC