Lang Professor’s New Book Examines the Biblical Trials of Job

In his new book, “The Book of Job: A Biography,” Mark Larrimore, associate professor and director of the religious studies program at Eugene Lang College, explores different perspectives and receptions to the Bible’s Book of Job and its changing perception over time.  

“The Book of Job: A Biography,” which is scheduled for release on September 30, tells the story of a righteous man whose faith is put to the test when a series of calamities befall him. The book raises the age-old question of why do the righteous suffer.

What sparked your interest in the Book of Job, its history, and its reception?
Well, the book is part of series, called “The Lives of Great Religious Books,” whose objective is essentially to produce biographies of books or religious texts and to look at the ways in which the stories have moved through time. The first course I taught at Lang was actually a seminar about the Book of Job. I was really excited to teach this particular text after hearing what Lang was all about and the teaching style that it supported. The Book of Job is short enough and simple enough that you can read it in a day, but its rich enough that you can keep revisiting it and finding new details and concepts that you hadn’t seen before. There are just enough empty spaces in the story for people to put themselves into it, to relate to it, and sort of bring their own understanding of these values into their reading of the text. I also find it intriguing to look at the ways that people receive old things and make them new by looking at them in new and different ways.

What was the process of writing this book like for you, researching and synthesizing all of these different perspectives?
It was a very frustrating process, but very rewarding and enriching. Having taught a couple of classes on the Book of Job, I was able to use those discussions to add more to the things that I already wanted to add. Also, once people knew that I was working on the book they would come to me with all of these new readings about the Book of Job and its perception that I hadn’t read before. One thing that was difficult was that during my classes I could use open-ended questions or say “I have no idea what this means, what do you think?” to spark discussions and provoke the exploration of new ideas, but obviously I couldn’t do that with this. The most difficult thing about this project was finding a way to bring all of this stuff together in a way that was manageable, that wouldn’t lose readers and make them feel overwhelmed or like they would need to do all of these other readings to completely understand what was going on. I had to work out how to articulate this story and its history and implications, etc., without all of the big words. Along the way you kind of find out that you don’t need all of the big words and the complicated phrases in most cases, so it was a useful exercise in that way.

Your book’s focus is on the different perspectives of the Book of Job and synthesizes different receptions of this text. After researching the book for so long, how do you perceive the Book of Job and the problem of evil? What do they mean to you?
I believe that the problem of evil is something that no one will ever solve. People will try to come up with answers to work it out, but then they will find, with new experiences, that they will have to revisit this problem constantly to keep coming up with new solutions. The problem of evil, I think, is something that needs to be managed. It is, unfortunately, a very important part of life. The Book of Job is interesting to me because it not only makes us look at and deal with the evil that we suffer and experience, but also the evil that those around us suffer and experience. The importance of the narrative and ritualistic aspects of the story is what makes it unique. A narrative perspective is important and effective, because that is the way we experience life, through the live and telling of stories; that is how we learn and grow. The book is also interesting and influential because there is also something effective and important about ritualistic experiences. Going back and revisiting the story again and again to build your understanding of it also causes us to see things we hadn’t seen before and to learn something new each time.

What outcome of writing a book like this motivates you the most? Researching and finding new things, opening your own mind to new perspectives and understandings, or being able to bring all of these different understandings together to teach others?Well this is definitely the biggest thing I’ve ever done. My other books are all anthologies.  It was frustrating, but it was big so in that way it was a very rewarding and exciting accomplishment for me. Other than that, the latter; the hope was to put all of this research together in a way that would make readers say “Hey! I didn’t know that!” and “Wow, that wasn’t so bad! I could understand that,” at the same time. I wanted to bring history and religious studies to people in a way that isn’t so intimidating and complicated, that makes readers feel like they can just delve into the book and explore with ease and excitement.

NiQyira Rajhi

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NiQyira is currently an Arts in Context major at the New School. She joined The Free Press in Fall 2013 and enjoys writing for all four of its sections. NiQyira aims to pursue a career in photo journalism, traveling while using photography and writing to explore other cultures. She would like to write for a magazine like National Geographic one day. NiQyira's hobbies include being the sweatiest girl in the gym, wandering the city with a camera, watching cartoons, writing and eating too much peanut butter.

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