While the legend of the golem is a product of Jewish folk tradition, its origins lost in those obscuring mists of time everyone is always talking about, Meyrink is perhaps the most well-known name attached to recent literary treatments of the golem—"recent" used rather loosely, as his version was serialized in 1913-14 and published in book form in 1915. There is of course no "definitive" treatment of a legend as old and rich in tradition as that of the Golem; Meyrink's version, not really supernaturalist or particularly "Jewish" at all, is a convoluted and complex psychological study as much as — or more than — it is any kind of thriller. According to E. F. Bleiler, who should know, Meyrink is "perhaps the foremost modern writer of supernatural novels."
I haven't been able to find an English e-text of this work (originally written in German) on the Web; indeed, much of the information about Meyrink is in languages I don't speak.
good overview of the cultural history of golems. [The Golem, which includes instructions on how to make your own, and just what they're good for. Part of the "Practical Kabbalah" site]
