This is a bold thesis and a radically new interpretation of The Book of Esther that contends it was written neither as light comedy, nor as sacred history, nor as a romance, nor as a handbook for Jewish survival in the Diaspora. Rather, it is a satire on Jewish life in the Diaspora. "Epstein's argument stands all previous readings of Esther on their head" (Hillel Halkin, from the Preface).