Having just read Brueggeman's Cambridge commentary on Psalms along with two other works of his on the Psalms, did I really want to read his new introduction to Psalms? Yes, absolutely. That's how good anything Brueggeman writes on the Psalms is: you're compelled to read it just to spend more time considering the Psalms with him.

After providing the general sketches of an introduction Brueggeman introduces you to the Psalms by bringing you into their world, considering various types of Psalms through actual exegesis of certain Psalms. Brueggeman explores the relationship between Canaanite expressions and how Israel puts them to use in their own praise, the types of praises Israel gives, enthronement, YHWH and chaos, Jerusalem, lament, imprecations, ordering of Creation, wisdom psalms, memory, thanks, and special treatment of Psalms 22, 23, 51, and 73. The book ends with an appendix where Breuggeman lays out his "typology of function" based on Ricoeur, seeing Psalms in terms of orientation, disorientation, and reorientation, along with different critical approaches to the world in various Psalms, familiar if you have read similar such treatments yet appreciated in this current form. An extensive bibliography is also provided.

Well worth exploring when desiring to dig more deeply into the Psalms.

**--galley received as part of early review program ( )