Dr. Joel M. Hoffman )
teacher . translator . author Spring, 2014
More:
  • The Bible's Cutting Room Floor
  • The Book Tours
  • Travel Spotlight
  • The Warwick Files

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    I've been unusually busy since my last update, mostly finishing up a new book, The Bible's Cutting Room Floor: The Holy Scriptures Missing from Your Bible. In it, I address stories and lessons left out of the Bible, like the second half of the Adam and Eve narrative, Abraham's childhood, Mordecai's serpent dream, and much more. I also compare different ancient answers to timeless questions about blessing and sin, about good and evil.

    With a publication date of September 2, we're already putting book-launch and book-signing tours in place. Please be in touch if you're interested in participating. Read more details below, or start with my "speaking" page.

    In addition, I've been building out a new website, "The Unabridged Bible," with material that complements The Bible's Cutting Room Floor. I'm thrilled by the early enthusiasm that has greeted the site, including well over 1,000 fans on its Facebook page. I'm particularly eager for feedback, so I hope you'll take a look when you have time and let me know what you think.

    The past months also saw my national television debut, on the History Channel's "Bible Secrets Revealed," though you needed a pretty quick eye to spot my appearances. I'm generally more comfortable behind the camera than in front of it, but I enjoyed the experience, and learned a lot about how mainstream television works.

    Please send me comments or feedback on any of these. I always look forward to hearing from you.


    -Joel

    		The Bible's Cutting Room Floor
    The Bible's Cutting Room Floor

    I'm delighted to be working with the wonderful team at Thomas Dunne Books / St. Martin's Press again as I prepare The Bible's Cutting Room Floor. I'll send more information about the book soon. For now, here are some highlights:

    • What happened to Adam and Eve after they left the Garden of Eden? And what do they teach us about our own lives?
    • What led Abraham to monotheism? And how does his childhood help explain his sometimes reckless behavior as a husband and father?
    • Who were the Watchers? And why does the text of the Bible assume that everyone knows about them?
    • More generally, how did so many once-popular scriptural writings fall into obscurity?
    Incidentally, I suppose the last person to judge a book by its cover should be the author, but I have to say that I absolutely love what Rob Grom created for The Bible's Cutting Room Floor.

    		The Book Tours

    To mark the publication of The Bible's Cutting Room Floor on September 2, we're scheduling a book-launch tour for the first couple weeks of September. Each stop includes a full-feature presentation with the added excitement of a book signing. As usual, I can tailor the length and content to your particular circumstances, and address homogeneous or interfaith groups. But I only have limited availability to travel in September, so let me know right away if you want to be included.

    Then starting around November I'll be on the road again, talking about this new material as well as my translation and other work. Please be in touch if you're interested in exploring options for bringing me to your community for a single event or longer scholar-in-residence weekend. Or start with my "speaking" page for more information.

    		Travel Spotlight

    Though I had to cut back on my travel this year to work on The Bible's Cutting Room Floor and "The Unabridged Bible," I couldn't stay completely put. This travel spotlight comes from the return segment of one of my trips.

    In typical New York fashion, yellow taxis dominate the transportation landscape.

    		The Warwick Files
    The Warwick Files: Revenge

    The Bible's Cutting Room Floor is actually just the first of two new books I'm publishing with St. Martin's Press, and with all the writing I'm doing for them, I haven't had time to complete any more episodes of my thriller series The Warwick Files. But the first two, "Checkpoint" and "Revenge," are still available, and I certainly plan to keep writing more as my time permits. So don't worry. Police Chief Coyote "Kai" Goodman hasn't disappeared, even though you haven't heard from him a while.

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