A Letter From Cynthia Ozick

November 18, 2004

It's been a month since you wrote, & I am still drudging away at my
book-tour commitments. But I MUST write you finally--oh, your
seductive, ravishing, and astounding Tree of Souls! What an
extraoradinary achievement, a labor of love & toil and dedication &
learning & discovery: only Rebono shel Olam [God] knows what founts of
inspiration you dipped into! If William Blake had access to this
remarkable volume, he would have rejoiced, & given up his attempts at
an artificial construction of this, the Real Thing, the World-Soul he
yearned to see, to paint. --Out of limitless scholarship you've given
birth to this 600-page Poem! And it is all written in your plain,
clear, transparent yet luminous voice. (While the footnotes,
magisterial in themselves, inhabit the realm of Schwartz-the-scholar.)

What a phenomenal present! How can I thank you for putting this
treasure so directly into my hands? It is (so far yet how can it be
surpassed?) your Crown Jewel.

With Blessings,
Cynthia