Robert Alter
Robert Alter’s published work has earned him the PEN Center Literary Award for Translation and the Los Angeles Times’s Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is a longtime professor of comparative literature at University of California, Berkeley, and lives near campus.
Robert Alter
Robert Alter’s published work has earned him the PEN Center Literary Award for Translation and the Los Angeles Times’s Robert Kirsch Award for lifetime achievement. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, he is a longtime professor of comparative literature at University of California, Berkeley, and lives near campus.
Awards
Winner — Northern California Book Award, 2008
Winner — PEN Center USA Literary Award for Translation, 2005
Winner — New York Times Notable Selection, 2004
Books by Robert Alter

Genesis: Translation and Commentary
Robert Alter
Paperback, 1998
"[Here is] the Genesis for our generation and beyond."—Robert Fagles
The David Story: A Translation with Commentary of 1 and 2 Samuel
Robert Alter
Paperback, 2000
"A masterpiece of contemporary Bible translation and commentary."—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books of 1999
The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Hardback, 2010
A magnificent new volume in Robert Alter’s award-winning, landmark translation of and commentary on the Hebrew Bible.
The Book of Psalms: A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Paperback, 2009
One of Newsweek’s Best Books of the Year and winner of the Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement.
The Wisdom Books: Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes: A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Paperback, 2011
First time in paperback: “One of the most ambitious literary projects of this or any age.”—Adam Kirsch, New Republic
The Pleasures of Reading: In an Ideological Age
Robert Alter
Paperback, 1996
“A book that ought to be placed in the hands of any person who shows the slightest interest in serious reading or in hearing a good, practical defense of high culture.” —Wall Street Journal
The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Paperback, 2008
"A modern classic....Thrilling and constantly illuminating."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World
Strong As Death Is Love: The Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel, A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Hardback, 2015
An award-winning translation brings new immediacy to these beloved books of the Bible. Read them for the first time, again.
Strong As Death Is Love: The Song of Songs, Ruth, Esther, Jonah, and Daniel, A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Paperback, 2016
An award-winning translation brings new immediacy to these beloved books of the Bible. Read them for the first time, again.
The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary
Robert Alter
Three Volume Set, Hardback, 2018
A landmark event: the complete Hebrew Bible in the award-winning translation that delivers the stunning literary power of the original.



