The second book in the Jacob Returns Series
Gregg Last’s latest art exhibition has flopped, leaving his cherished celebrity status in tatters. When he finds himself in hospital after a near-fatal accident, it takes a visiting social worker, Amy, to restore his fragile mental state and help him overcome his reluctance to resume painting.
After stumbling across an anonymous but deeply moving painting in his studio that resonates with refreshing integrity despite bearing no resemblance to any of his own compositions, Gregg identifies an unconscious void in his life and begins to explore an additional spiritual dimension, and his former narcissistic existence is transformed to one with new purpose and meaning.
A Poor Man’s Wisdom is a tale of self-realisation, in which a previous life of excess and unfulfillment yields to a simpler but more purposeful existence.
Launch of Jacob Returns at JW3 in April 2026
A Poor Man’s Wisdom follows John’s ‘Jacob Returns’ series and themes. On Wednesday 22nd April 2026, John joined a panel of distinguished thinkers at JW3 in Finchley and they discussed the personal and universal themes behind the Jacob Returns Novella. The evening explored the ways in which the novella mirrors John’s own spiritual journey.
The panel featured:
John Steinberg, Author of Jacob Returns
Dr Tali Lowenthal, Associate Professor, Department of Hebrew & Jewish Studies at UCL
Patricia Pitchon, Author, freelance journalist & retired psychotherapist
Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski, Organisational psychologist & Rabbinic Head, University Jewish Chaplaincy
This event was in partnership with Spiro Ark.
Any questions for John?
If you have any questions for John Steinberg on this, or any of his other novels please submit them below.
Stories by John Steinberg 