Jonathan Kirsch is an American attorney, writer, and a columnist for the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

''. He is a bestselling author of books on

religion Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatur ...

, the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

, and

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in th ...

Biography

Life

Kirsch earned a B.A. degree in Russian and Jewish history from the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located on Monterey Bay, on the ed ...

and a J.D. degree from Loyola University School of Law. He serves as adjunct Professor on the Faculty of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

’s Professional Publishing Institute and has contributed to ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis (businessman), Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print m ...

'', ''

The New Republic ''The New Republic'' is an American magazine of commentary on politics, contemporary culture, and the arts. Founded in 1914 by several leaders of the progressive movement, it attempted to find a balance between "a liberalism centered in hu ...

'', ''

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

'' magazine, and ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' among other publications. He is also the author of ten books, and a critic. His son,

Adam Kirsch Adam Kirsch (born 1976) is an American poet and literary critic. He is on the seminar faculty of Columbia University's Center for American Studies, and has taught at YIVO. Life and career Kirsch was born in Los Angeles in 1976. He is the son of ...

, is an American poet and literary critic.

Books

* ''Bad Moon Rising'' (1977) * ''Lovers in a Winter Circle'' (1978) * ''Harlot by the Side of the Road: Forbidden Tales of the Bible.'' Ballantine Books (1998) * ''Moses: A Life.'' Ballantine Books; New Ed edition (1999) * ''King David: The Real Life of the Man who Ruled Israel.'' Ballantine Books (2001) * ''The Woman who Laughed at God: The Untold History of the Jewish People.'' Penguin Reprint edition (2002) * ''God Against the Gods: The History of the War Between Monotheism and Polytheism.'' Viking Adult (2004) * ''A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Changed the Course of Western Civilization.'' HarperOne (2006). * ''The Grand Inquisitor's Manual: A History of Terror in the Name of God'' HarperOne (2008). * '' The Short, Strange Life of Herschel Grynszpan: A Boy Avenger, a Nazi Diplomat, and a Murder in Paris'' Liveright (2013).

References

External links

*
Author page
on Jewish Journal {{DEFAULTSORT:Kirsch, Jonathan Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American biographers American columnists 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American lawyers American literary critics American male novelists Historians of Jews and Judaism Loyola Marymount University alumni University of California, Santa Cruz alumni 20th-century American male writers American male biographers American male non-fiction writers