Rating: 
Summary: Excellent perspective
Review: This book is so well-written and researched. I recommend it highly for the perspective it provides--reminding us we are ALL one people.
Rating: 
Summary: Abraham the Chaldean
Review: Perhaps the main thing to remember regarding Abraham, is that he was NOT a Hebrew, but a Chaldean. So many literary efforts erroneously portray him as a Jew, which he was not.
Rating:
Summary: Slightly flawed
Review: This well written, flowing account of Abraham and his application to the three great monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Although a refreshing account this book contains a number of outright fallacy's. First of all the story of Abraham is not, in fact, identical for the three faiths. The most obvious point here is the distinction in Islam of Ishmael who in the Torah/Old Testament is cast away and who god describes as 'a wild beast of a man, his hand against all others'. The question the author raises is 'Since Abraham is the father of the three faiths can't he be used as a unifying person to bring understanding'. In short, No. Abraham is not the central figure in any of the three faiths. Judaism has Moses, Christianity has Jesus and Islam has Mohamed. Abraham is simply a father figure but not a dynamic prophet of god. He was a shepherd with a small number of followers and a small family. He frequently lied to local rulers and said his wife was his sister, so that he would not be murdered for her. His brother, Lot, ended up in a cave and made love to his own daughters. Abraham circumcised himself at an old age and his wife gave birth when she was 80. But the parables and stories aside the man, Abraham, is a very human fleshy character and the authors thesis does not hold true. He is not a unifier, he is simply a beginning, like Adam and Eve or Noah, who are equally nebulous. In the final result this book does not hold the water is reputes itself to hold.
Rating:
Summary: Well organized religious review, idealistic conclusion
Review: Bruce Feiler gives us a book which well documents the next step in exploring Abraham beyond the Genesis account; development of extra biblical tradition and Judaic/Christian/Islamic interpretation down to today. It is very well organized into sections covering the three different faiths. I particularly liked how the author demonstrates each faith's attempt to make Abraham exclusively its own via the rabbinic application of Gen. 26 which has Abraham keeping the law prior to the law being given, the Christian Paul using Gen.15 for "midrash at its most elastic" to establish the righteousness by faith doctrine in the N.T.of Romans 4, and the Islamic sacrificial dream son being Ismael as opposed to Isaac. Feiler accesses some very respectable references as well as random everyday people he encounters as he visits various sites where Abraham walked, but for the most part they offer personal opinion some of which I found little to no relevance in. Other interviews reveal the continuing division, and with some even a non-disguised hatred between the differing faiths. This is why I call Feiler's conclusion, that Abraham as the father of many nations can be the foundation for mutual understanding in our day, youthful idealism. Just the same I would recommend this book for the positives previously cited, as easily readable, and Feiler's end chapter premise worth the reader's drawing their own conclusion on.
Rating: 
Summary: Good overview
Review: Feiler presents an excellent overview and analysis of the life of Abraham and the development of his place in Islamic, Christian, and Jewish history. Of special note is the connection between thoughts about Abraham and the current Arab-Israeli conflict.
Rating:
Summary: A Message Of Hope In A Time Of Despair
Review: Anyone who surveys the global situation in these early years of the 21st century could logically feel a sense of despair if they dream of world peace. Despite years of effort, peace in the Middle East seems a more distant goal then ever; and the United States finds itself embattled in a global struggle with radical forces who claim to be guided by tenets of their faith.In this dark time, Bruce Feiler's "Abraham" can serve as a beacon of hope and light. In this slim, gracefully written volume, Feiler invites us along on his personal search for Abraham--the father figure for the three great faiths in the world today. He chronicles how little is actually known about the man--and how this has allowed each faith to mold an Abraham who seems suited to his needs. Sadly, he points out how first Christians and then Moslems at first tried to use Abraham as a figure of inclusion and a bridge with the other religions, but then evolved toward an exclusionist view that only embraced their own version of the prophet. Although his ideals shine brightly in this text, Feiler is not looking at the world through a false prisim; he readily acknowledges the violence and tensions that radiate from the bithplace of these faiths--Jerusalem--and around the globe. But he holds out hope that despite these setbacks, the three faiths are evolving toward an inclusive view of each other, and makes an eloquent case that Abraham can be the foundation on which to build that new understanding.
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Summary: Too Basic for Most Readers
Review: Feiler's "Abraham" is a good book about the father of three religions written for people who have never bothered to read the Book of Genesis. For the totally uninitiated, Feiler gives a summary of the biblical stories. Instead of Feiler's "Abraham," I would recommend first that people read the biblical Genesis. This is a much more interesting and lively book than Feiler's. And second, if you want insight into the same material that Feiler is writing about, read Dennis Shulman's "The Genius of Genesis." Shulman's book has more depth, and is as well written as Feiler's.
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Summary: Father Abraham
Review: Thoughtful and challenging, "Abraham" is a fine primer on the relationship, both problematic and promising, between revelation and culture. Demonstrates effectively and, at times, movingly, the importance of the conversations we have about what matters most. It is also a check to our human tendency to inappropriate appropriate the stories of faith heroes to fit our view of the world (rather than the other way around) and satisfy our frustrations that things aren't working out the way we think they should. Feiler is a very good writer: a clear, strong but unobtrusive personal voice; he is a good guide through the labyrinthine world of great religions.
Rating: 
Summary: Mildly Interesting
Review: As I continue my reading to gain better insight into today's conflict with Islamists, I felt it would help to delve into the common roots of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. This book came into view and looked to be a good step in that direction. In fact, it appears to be the very reason Feiler wrote it. "My experience in the region persuaded me that it's possible-maybe even necessary-to gain insight into a contemporary situation by turning away from the present and looking back to its historical source. Especially in matters of faith, even the most modern act is informed by centuries of intermingled belief, blood, and misunderstanding. And in that conflagration, as it has for four millennia, one name echoes behind every conversation. One figure stands at the dawn of every subsequent endeavor. One individual holds the breadth of the past-and perhaps the dimensions of the future-in his life story. Abraham." (9) This book is part travelogue and part self-awakening. Feiler explores the role of Abraham-part myth, part oral history-in the growth of the three great monotheistic religions. He uses an airy, enthusiastic style that bespeaks wonderment and excitement at every step of the way. Unfortunately, Feiler often displays a pendulum-like tendency towards hyperbole that is distracting. For example, he refers to Abraham at one point as "the Albert Einstein of his day" (28). In another section he compares Abraham's life to a three-act Hollywood play (70). Incredibly, he goes on to say God was acting "against [His] natural instincts" in this play. This is an amazing statement that bespeaks a presumed, but inappropriate, familiarity with Him. Sometimes I got the sense that Feiler just likes to hear himself talk. Still, there are interesting insights along the way-the root meaning of "Arab" (21) and the symbolism of male circumcision (68), for example. Also, Muhammad's vision (Islam) stems directly and deliberately from the Jewish interpretation of biblical history (76). Particularly interesting, "Abraham, I was discovering, is not just a gentle man of peace. He's as much a model for fanaticism as he is for moderation...[B]y elevating such conduct to the standard of piety, he stirred in his descendants a similar desire to lash out, to view pain as an arm of belief, and to use brutality to advance their vision of a divine-centered world." (108). His discussion helps to explain religious fanaticism and the willingness of some (unfortunately, far too many these days) for martyrdom. Feiler touches on the roots of the enmity between the followers of these religions, but I found his discussion lacking. A few examples pretty well sum up his view: Early, proto-Christians saw the Jews as having "corrupted the Temple...abandoned the poor, and blasphemed the laws of purity" (138). "Church fathers saw in the misfortune of the Jews more evidence of their own triumph and a vindication for their claim to be the true kingdom of Israel" (152). "Pious Muslims continue to see the Koran as the unfiltered word of God, which is one reason for the devotion it elicits. There is no third-person narrative in the Koran. God speaks directly in all of the text's six thousand two hundred verses" (165). "Islamic midrash, know as tafsir, is considered harsher toward Jews than toward Christians, largely because of the political circumstances during the prophet's lifetime" (174). "For Muslims...Islam didn't supersede Christianity and Judaism, it preceded them. Islam, in fact, was the faith of Abraham, which his descendants twisted for their own purposes" (176). He provides glimmers of the underlying friction, but they don't go far enough. I had flirted with the idea that since Abraham was the common source of these three great religions, perhaps he could also be their source of reconciliation-a common bond that could serve as a rallying point. If he could be, this book doesn't hold out much optimism. Overall I found this book only somewhat enlightening, but certainly not to the degree for which I had hoped. It comes across more as a journal of self-discovery punctuated with exposition of the religious meaning or tradition of various aspects of "Abrahamism" to flesh out a book. I'm pleased to have read it, but with an ever-growing reading backlog, had I known more about this book beforehand I would have passed it by.
Rating:
Summary: Light and fluffy disappointment
Review: If you are looking for a penetrating , interesting,and scholarly exploration of Abraham, this is NOT the book for you. The tone is flippant, casual, and cutesy. In this book Abraham and God negotiate with each other and God isn't much more than Zeus, a weak egocentric being. In fact, God needs Abraham! It's written as a travelogue and an essay. Much of this work is opinion and more opinion. What I liked -- I enjoyed the personal relfections Feiler inserts about his Judaism and his visit to Jerusalem. He has a bright cheerful voice that's nice to read. I expected to learn and for the writing to be backed up with solid scholarship, but it wasn't. This is light, for the beach, summer reading.
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