Along the Edge of Annihilation: The Collapse and Recovery of Life in the Holocaust Diary

Patterson, director of the Judaic studies program at the University of Memphis, continues his deconstructionist study of the Holocaust diary genre begun in Sun Turned to Darkness: Memory and Recovery in the Holocaust Memoir (LJ 10/1/98). Patterson attempts to understand the face of evil by reading the words of those who suffered. He has examined an impressive collection of Holocaust memoirs and diaries, many of which have never appeared in English; his bibliography of primary sources may be worth the price of the book for some university libraries. The unrelenting voices of the victims are heavy going, though, and, unfortunately, Patterson is only interested in Jewish writers. Where are the other victims, such as homosexuals and Romany? Many of Patterson's themes can also be found in Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Letters and Papers from Prison (1953), but should Bonhoeffer be disqualified for being a Gentile? The reader must be ready for a heavy dose of Jewish theology and the realization that Patterson is essentially writing for a Jewish audience. Recommended for larger academic collections.ARandall L. Schroeder, Wartburg Coll. Lib., Waverly, IA
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