My Name Is Asher Lev * Chaim Potok

Growing up in a close-knit Hasidic community in postwar Brooklyn, a gifted young boy finds himself torn between devotion to his family's traditional faith and an undeniable, all-consuming need to draw and paint.

The Story. Written by acclaimed American novelist and rabbi Chaim Potok, this story offers a deeply moving portrait of an artist coming into his own. Set in Crown Heights, Brooklyn during the 1950s, the story follows Asher Lev, a Ladover Hasid whose extraordinary talent for drawing troubles his devout father, Aryeh, and baffles his close-knit neighborhood. With quiet encouragement from his mother, Rivkeh, and mentorship from renowned sculptor Jacob Kahn, Asher learns to channel the joys and sorrows of his heritage onto canvas. Yet as his artistic voice matures, his boldest paintings, culminating in the controversial Brooklyn Crucifixion, test the bonds between faith, family loyalty, and creative truth.

Perfect For. Book clubs, literature students, and readers drawn to heartfelt stories about art, family, and tradition alongside Chaim Potok's The Chosen and The Gift of Asher Lev, Nathan Englander's For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, Cynthia Ozick's The Shawl, or Irving Stone's The Agony and the Ecstasy.

First published 1972; this edition 2022 by Anchor Book.

Fiction / Classics / 20th-Century American Literature / Jewish Fiction & Culture / Coming-of-Age & Künstlerroman / Art & Faith Narratives / Postwar Brooklyn Fiction