JL;DR SUMMARY Allison Epstein's novel, "Fagin the Thief," offers a reimagining of the antisemitic character Fagin from Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist," recasting him as Jacob, a boy nurtured by his mother in the Jewish ghettos of 1790s London. 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'.