Elie Wiesel is a rare master storyteller with the ability to use storytelling as a form of activism. This work contains an essay that examines Wiesel's roots in Jewish storytelling traditions; influence from religious, folk and secular sources; education; Yiddish back ground; Holocaust experience; and writing style.

Table of Contents Preface       Introduction      Mosaics and Mirrors: Wiesel, American Autobiographies, and the Shaping of a Storied Subject      Creative Ambiguity in Wiesel’s Storytelling      Elie Wiesel: Telling Stories of Children and Loss      The Storyteller and His Quarrel with God      Wrestling with Oblivion: Wiesel’s Autobiographical Storytelling as Midrash      The Maggid of Sighet: Jewish Contexts for Wiesel’s Storytelling      Laughter and the Limits of Holocaust Storytelling: Wiesel’s The Gates of the Forest      Transfiguration      The Artist as Witness, Prophet, and Encourager      Shaliach Tzibor: Wiesel as Storyteller of His People      Teaching Beyond the Text: Examining and Acting On the Moral Aspects of Night      Afterword: Night—the Memoir—a Promise Fulfilled      About the Contributors      Index