Wandering Soul: The Dybbuk’s Creator, S. An-sky

(Harvard University Press) In this biography of this Russian-Jewish intellectual, Safran documents the life of S. An-sky, a political activist, journalist, novelist, and playwright. She shows his struggle with in-betweeness and how it allowed him to compose his works. By documenting An-sky’s life, Safran also tells the story of Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The book is based on writings and archival records. Safran is a professor of Slavic languages and literature at Stanford University.