Joseph the Provider

Joseph and His Brothers, Book 4

Thomas Mann regarded his monumental retelling of the biblical story of Joseph as his magnum opus. He conceived of the four parts—The Stories of Jacob, Young Joseph, Joseph in Egypt, and Joseph the Provider—as a unified narrative, a "mythological novel" of Joseph's fall into slavery and his rise to be lord over Egypt. Deploying lavish, persuasive detail, Mann conjures for us the world of patriarchs and pharaohs, the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and Palestine, and the universal force of human love in all its beauty, desperation, absurdity, and pain. The result is a brilliant amalgam of humor, emotion, psychological insight, and epic grandeur.

Now the award-winning translator John E. Woods gives us a definitive new English version of Joseph and His Brothers that is worthy of Mann's achievement, revealing the novel's exuberant polyphony of ancient and modern voices, a rich music that is by turns elegant, coarse, and sublime.

©1943 Thomas Mann (P)2025 W. F. Howes Ltd

Great novel, translation, and narration. “Joseph and his Brothers” by Thomas Mann.

I like all 4 books. Altogether one of the best books I’ve read.very happy to have it complete in John Woods translation.

Worth listening to.

Some parts are very slow. The bit with Potiphar's wife, particularly. The last volume, where Joseph reasserts himself, is excellent. Some is very funny.

Brilliant

Thomas Mann is by far one of the best writers this world has ever done. All four books in this series were amazing.