Nobody’s Fool ©

Imagine, if you will, that the depiction of King Ahasuerus in the Bible Book of Esther is a construct.

When the Megilah is read, he is described as only interested in partying and drinking and displaying his wealth, including a trophy wife. It is implied that he makes important, indeed, life and death decisions based only on whims, that he can be swayed by unfounded lies and fears and scurrilous arguments advanced by shallow and hate filled men. In short, he is portrayed as everybody’s fool.

This is the story that I learned as a child. Even then I could not buy into this scenario. It also says in the Megilah that King Ahasuerus ruled over an empire that stretched from India on the East to Ethiopia on the West, over 127 provinces. It also cites actions that demonstrate his compassion and his sense of fairness.

In Nobody’s Fool I describe King Ahasuerus as quite the opposite. In it I offer a very complex individual with a surprising childhood history filled with close personal and political relationships. I also describe many of his enemies as being intelligent, sinister, and dangerous.

Nobody’s Fool is not yet complete, but I offer to you a glimpse into a much different world that, nonetheless does not eliminate characters and concludes in the same way as as the Megilah.

Nobody’s Fool Table of Contents