Shifting the perspective of the biblical story of David from historicity to genre and popular culture, Isser (Judaic and religious studies, State U. of New York-Albany) compares the stories with other heroic literature, including those in Homer, King Arthur, and Robin Hood. The David stories originated in popular heroic literature, he concludes, and only a small fragment of them found their way into the Bible. The Society of Biblical Literature publishes the book and distributes the paperbound edition; Brill distributes the clothbound edition. edition. Annotation 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
