"Gentlemen of the Road: A Tale of Adventure" by Michael Chabon *****

• Originally published 2007
• US author
• Epigraph #1:  "Despising all my glory, abandoning my high estate, leaving my family, I would go over mountains and hills, through seas and lands, till I should arrive at the place where my Lord the King resides, that I might see not only his glory and magnificence, and that of his servants and ministers, but also the tranquility of the Israelites.  On beholding this my eyes would brighten, my reins would exult, my lips would pour forth praises to God, who has not withdrawn his favor from his afflicted ones." - letter of Hasdai Ibn Shaprut, minister of the Caliph of Spain , to Joseph, ruler of Khazaria, circa 960
• Epigraph #2:  "From no on, I'll describe the cities to you,' the Khan had said, 'in your journeys you will see if they exist." - Italo Calvino, "Invisible Cities 
• Characters:  Zelikman (Jew with a sword), Amram (African with an axe), Filaq (you have to read to find out the truth of this character) ....the three lead "The Brotherhood of the Elephant"
• Tidbits:
• p.27...."Zelikman was alien to feelings of sympathy with young men in tears, having waked one morning, around the time of his fifteenth birthday, to find that by a mysterious process perhaps linked to his studies of human ailments and frailties as much as to the rape and murder of his mother and sister, his heart had turned to stone
• p.64..."It was the business of the world, Amram knew, to manufacture and consume orphans, and in that work fatherly love was mere dross to be burned away."
• p.70....".....Zelikman could hear the rumbling of the men's bellies and the grit in their eyelids and the hollowness of failure sounding in their chests."
• p.96...."All the evil in the world derives from the actions of men acting in a mass against other masses of men."
• p.103..." 'I don't save lives,' Zelikman said, 'I just prolong them."
• p.104..."When you get to be as old as I am, there's an appeal in the idea of seeing some business through from start to finish."
• Afterword by author......."It has been a very long time, after all, since Jews anywhere in the world routinely wore or wielded swords, so long that when paired with 'sword', the word 'Jews' clangs with anachronism, with humorous incongruity, like 'Samurai Tailor' or 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'.
• Review:   Swashbuckling Jews with swords?  Who knew?  Not many writers could pull this feat off, but Michael is definitely one of the few. Chabon's wit, memorable characters, and tale spinning come together in a great tale of "Gentlemen of the Road" who defend the weak, champion the intellect, and of course, revere elephants!  Just read it!  I couldn't put it down.