Deborah Kapchan's Taking Leave is a lyrical memoir that encompasses journeys both inner and outer, physical and spiritual. Taking readers from New York, Paris, and Casablanca to Jerusalem and Abu Dhabi while exploring her Christian childhood, Jewish lineage, and the release she found in Islam, Kapchan examines the extent to which we can take leave of who we are to live between categories. She meditates on absence, presence, and the sublime to weave an existential tale that honors the three traditions that made her, ultimately desiring to take leave of them all. Taking Leave is an urgent plea for anti-tribalism and a timely treatise for compassionate coexistence in the spaces in-between.

About the Author
Deborah Kapchan is Professor of Performance Studies at New York University.

Reviews
"In this moving memoir Deborah Kapchan artfully unveils the connections among Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Stretching beyond Kapchan's journey of personal and intellectual self-discovery, this wonderful literary achievement brings us much-needed measures of inspired hope to our troubled times." - Paul Stoller, author of Wisdom from the Edge: Writing Ethnography in Turbulent Times

"This book is a joy to read, speaking deeply and powerfully to a shared and fundamental human experience by means of Deborah Kapchan's unique vision and voice. I adore this touching and remarkable book." - Martin Shuster, author of How to Measure a World? A Philosophy of Judaism



Book Information
ISBN 9781478032823
Author Deborah Kapchan
Format Paperback
Page Count 136
Imprint Duke University Press
Publisher Duke University Press
Weight(grams) 445g