From Publishers Weekly In this short， deeply moving novel by a former Israeli ambassador (his first book to appear in English)， four prisoners in a Nazi concentration camp are kept alive as "court jesters" to entertain the camp commandant. They are juggler Adam Wahn， studious astrologer Max Himmelfarb， Kahana， a hunchbacked ex-judge， and a quick-witted， talkative dwarf named Leo Risenberg. A Nazi soldier shoots Wahn's naked wife to death as he stands before her juggling， looking on helplessly. Over 20 years later， Kahana and Himmelfarb meet in Jerusalem; the dwarf is dead， but the two survivors track down Wahn， now crippled from a terrorist bomb， who relates the gripping story of how he avenged his wife's death in a remote corner of Buenos Aires. A story that might have been allegorical or contrived in the hands of a less gifted novelist is here an utterly realistic tale， pellucid and poetic， which asks an overriding question: Is there a just God? Despite the narrator's closing epiphany， no final answers are given. This is a poignant， extraordinary book. Film rights to Milos Forman. Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information， Inc.