Chaim Potok is a novelist, philosopher, historian, theologian, playwright, artist and editor. In My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok creates the original, deeply moving story of Asher Lev, the religious boy with an overwhelming need to draw, to paint, to render the world he knows and the pain he feels, on canvas for everyone to see. A loner, Asher has an extraordinary God-given gift that possesses a spirit all its own. It is this force that must learn to master without shaming his people or relinquishing any part of his deeply felt Judaism. It will not be easy for him, but he knows, too, that even if it is impossible, it must be done. First published in 1972, My Name is Asher Lev has become, with The Chosen, one of Chaim Potok's most loved-and bestselling-titles. The New York Times Book Review referred to My Name is Asher Love as "A novel of finely articulated tragic power: Little short of a work of genius."