cover image Jacob the Baker

Jacob the Baker

Noah BenShea. Ballantine Books, $11 (128pp) ISBN 978-0-345-36662-7

Jacob is a pious, modest, self-effacing baker who writes pithy aphorisms on scraps of paper. By chance, one of his maxims becomes baked inside a loaf of bread and is read by a woman who finds wisdom and solace in his words. He is asked to write more. Despite ``a few too many sententious precepts,'' this remains a ``delicate and finely tuned book,'' commented PW. (June)