The Book of Lark and Mole is a collection of fables that pose fundamental questions about the meaning of success and the good life in language that anyone --an open minded grown up or an intelligent child -- can understand. The books's aim is to challenge thoughtful readers of all ages. In each tale, some kind of magic serves as the vehicle for delivering the message. In one of these tales, a wise man says that magic isn't something you learn to do. "One doesn't do magic. Magic is part of the world. Our teacher only taught us to see this more clearly." Marder tells of a magic pen that seems...

In the biblical book of Exodus Moses comes across a great sight in the desert: a bush that burns and is not consumed. When Moses turns aside to see this strange sight, God speaks to him from the burning bush. Marder uses this parable to frame his belief that we must give our full attention to life's powerful and seemingly inexplicable events and learn what truth they might reveal. "No, I have no use for religion," Marder writes. "But I do use the word God. I use it mockingly, but I use it. I use it to talk about the residual. When everything we know has been counted, there remains that which...