Joseph in Egypt.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1938. Mann wrote the four-part novel Joseph and His Brothers over the course of 16 years. Set in the 14th century B.C.E., the tetralogy presents the story of Genesis in standard Egyptian chronology from the ascension of Akehnaten to the death and funeral of Jacob. A dominant topic of the novel is Mann's exploration of mythical truths in the midst of the emergence of monotheism as well as the central notion of the underworld and man's descent into it. "Against an extraordinarily vivid background of the pace of life in all its detail is told the inside story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife, up to its climax, when -- defeated in her determination to win his love, she turns against him and Potiphar, unwillingly, is forced to give him to Pharaoh as slave and prisoner. So much for the pattern of the tale. But the philosophy and understanding and interpretation is Mann's -- and for that it is a book not to passed over. One of the great masters of prose today, Mann gives us some of his best in this stupendous work" (Kirkus Reviews).