Shortly after publication Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach criticized the book, writing in "The Jerusalem Post" that the book's central thesis had a "fatal flaw", though he concluded that the book had "merit" and provided a "humanizing portrait." David Klinghoffer asserted that "there are peculiar omissions and contradictions. ... Readers of this biography may wonder if the authors have failed to grasp their subject", in his review for London's "Jewish Chronicle". Jonathan Mark of the "New York Jewish Week" derided the book in a review, including a section where he referred to a "spitball than any substantiated academic conclusion, not what you'd expect from a pair of professors who demand to be taken seriously."