[MS: This sheet revised March, 2023]
Listen to Robert Alter explain his work in his own words - to diverse audiences, at various levels and with good humor. See MS Sefaria Sheet Collection and a sheet with links to some of his lectures.
The Art of Bible Translation Robert Alter 2019 - Alter’s personal reflections on translation and a very helpful overview.
***Introductions & Essays *** - Alter wrote essay-length Introductions to the Hebrew Bible, to The Five Books as a whole, to each book from Genesis to Deuteronomy, to Prophets and Ketuvim - and to each part therein. The essays are a remarkable resource, rich in broad vision and based on a lifetime of research and scholarly discipline. Several of these essay-Introductions are described in the MS Robert Alter Sefaria Sheet Collection.]
MS Sefaria sheet on The Art of Bible Translation has overview and excerpts. And see below: Suggested reading by Alter.
The Art of Biblical Narration Robert Alter – updated 2011
The Art of Biblical Poetry Robert Alter – updated 2011
Translations of the Hebrew Bible
•The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel, 1999, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-32077-4
•The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary, 2004, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-01955-1
•The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary, 2007, W.W. Norton, ISBN 978-0-393-06226-7
•The Book of Genesis, translation by Robert Alter, illustrated by R. Crumb, 2009, W.W. Norton (first edition, 1996), ISBN 0-393-06102-7
•The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary, 2010, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-06812-9
•Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings: A Translation with Commentary, 2013, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-08269-5
•Strong As Death Is Love: Song of Songs Ruth Esther Jonah And Daniel: A Translation with Commentary, 2015, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-24304-4
•The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, 2018, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-29249-5
Other works
•Rogue's Progress: Studies in the Picaresque Novel, 1965, Harvard University Press
•Partial Magic: The Novel as a Self-Conscious Genre, 1975, University of California Press, ISBN 0-520-02755-8
•A Lion for Love: A Critical Biography of Stendhal, in collaboration with Carol Cosman, 1979, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-04124-8
•The Art of Biblical Narrative, 1981, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-00427-X
•Motives for Fiction, 1984, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-58762-5
•The Art of Biblical Poetry, 1985, Basic Books, ISBN 0-465-00431-8
•The Literary Guide to the Bible Edited by Alter and Frank Kermode, 1987, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-87531-9
•The Invention of Hebrew Prose: Modern Fiction and the Language Revolution, 1988, University of Washington Press.
•Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age, 1990, W.W. Norton, ISBN 0-393-31499-5
•Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka, Benjamin, and Scholem, 1991, Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-60663-0
•Imagined Cities: Urban Experience and the Novel, 2005, Yale University Press, ISBN 0-300-10802-8
•Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible, 2010, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-12881-2
•The Art of Bible Translation, 2019, Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0691181493
•Nabokov and the Real World: Between Appreciation and Defense, 2021, Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-21193-0
Selected References from The Art of Bible Translation 2019
(Copyrighted material)
Books by ROBERT ALTER
Strong as Death Is Love: The Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel: A Translation with Commentary
Ancient Israel: The Former Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings:
A Translation with Commentary
The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes:
A Translation with Commentary
Pen of Iron: American Prose and the King James Bible
The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
Imagined Cities: Urban Experience and the Language of the Novel
The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary
Canon and Creativity: Modern Writing and the Authority of Scripture
The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel
Genesis: Translation and Commentary
Hebrew and Modernity
The World of Biblical Literature
Necessary Angels: Tradition and Modernity in Kafka, Benjamin, and Scholem
The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age
The Literary Guide to the Bible
(coeditor with Frank Kermode)
The Invention of Hebrew Prose:
Modern Fiction and the Language of Realism
The Art of Biblical Poetry
Motives for Fiction
The Art of Biblical Narrative
A Lion for Love: A Critical Biography of Stendhal
Defenses of the Imagination: Jewish Writers and Modern Historical Crisis
Partial Magic: The Novel as a Self-Conscious Genre
Modern Hebrew Literature
After the Tradition: Essays on Modern Jewish Writing
Fielding and the Nature of the Novel
Rogue's Progress: Studies in the Picaresque Novel