Vidui [Paperback]

Fiction. Jewish Studies. A version of Tolstoy'sDeath of Ivan Ilyich,except that it is contemporary, Jewish, and (therefore?) often funny. Tolstoy wasn't much given to humor, though it's a vital part of our visions of ourselves. Vidui is a Hebrew prayer to be recited when death is imminent, often translated as confession, but with the word meaning what it did for St. Augustine--a reckoning, a summing-up.