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CHABON TEACHES KING WITH KING
If you were Michael Chabon, how would you teach a bunch of kids about horror fiction? According to Dave Eggers, you'd bring in the King.
Eggers, the founder of 826 Valencia, told Newcity Chicago that as a celebrity instructor at the tutoring center, Chabon did just that, getting Stephen King to teach... well, Stephen King.
"Great story," Eggers said. "[Michael Chabon] was talking to Stephen King, he said, hey, `I'm going to teach a writing class. I'm going to be teaching your work.' King said, `If you teach that, I'll fly out.' And he did it. He flew out all the way from Maine to teach a two-hour class to thirty students."
Ayelet Waldman, Chabon's wife, previously recounted the story in her now-defunct blog.
"On the last day of class, he was there," she said. "As a surprise guest. You should have seen the kids' faces. They were out of their minds. When he told them that he was an amateur, just like them, they scribbled in their notebooks. When he asked them what they wrote, what their techniques were, you could see their self-confidence expand before your eyes. It was amazing.
She continued: "I've met some incredibly generous people in my life, but honestly, he's something special. This guy flew across the country (obviously at his own expense -- 826 doesn't have a pot to piss in) just to inspire a dozen kids. Now that's a mensch."
HOLOCAUST COMIC UPSETS GERMAN JEWS
Jewish leaders in Germany have expressed anger regarding two translations of comic books depicting the Holocaust, The Times of London reported.
Ehapa, a German comic company, this week will release Auschwitz, by the French artist Pascal Croci, and Yossel, by the American artist Joe Kubert, in hopes of introducing German youths to their country's tragic past. But the books, much more graphic than most accounts available in Germany, have provoked criticism amongst many Jews regarding the books' appropriateness.
"A comic strip is not the appropriate form," said Ezra Cohn, a member of the Jewish community in Düsseldorf. "The subject is too serious to portray in this way."
Paul Spiegel, chairman of the German Jewish community, said: "We will have to watch very carefully indeed whether this kind of treatment really does address the people it is aimed for."
Many, the Times reported, fear the books might become collectors’ items for the far-right. The Times notes some anti-Semitic comics are currently circulating the neo-Nazi underground.
But Croci, who interviewed more the 15 survivors for his tale, argues it's time to be direct with the younger generation of Germans about Auschwitz.
"Growing up, I was repeatedly told, you are too young to understand," said Croci.
To read the full Times account, click here.
CHABON'S SUMMER READING
Michael Chabon posted his current reading list over at his website. The books include:
Please note, two of the books are unavailable for the mass public. Those silly writers and their forthcoming works.
CHABON HANDWRITING & POSTER UP FOR BID
Brick, a literary journal, is celebrating its 75th issue not only by featuring 15 original handwritten manuscripts by various authors, but also by selling them on eBay, including one by Michael Chabon!
The piece Chabon contributed features the first paragraph of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, as scribed by Chabon himself. The passage comes on a rare poster for the first encounter of Chabon and Jim Steranko at Lee's Comics in Mountain View, California in December 2002.
Auction begins June 20 and ends June 24. To order the 75th issue, click here.
ESCAPIST TAKES TWO HARVIES!
Michael Chabon Presents: The Amazing Adventures of the Escapist took Best New Series and tied for Best Anthology at this weekend's Harvey Awards.
The Kavalier & Clay-inspired series tied with McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern #13 in the anthology category, which featured an essay by Chabon. Escapist beat out Ex Machina: The First Hundred Days, by up-coming Escapist writer Brian K. Vaughan.
To see the rest of the winners, click here.
AYELET VS. DODGEBALL
In her newest Salon column, Ayelet Waldman tackles that eternal socially segregating sport, dodgeball.
Got news? E-mail me!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 5:10 PM ET
Source: Newcity Chicago, Bad Mother
Wednesday, June 29, 2005, 5:10 PM ET
Source: The Times of London
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, 11:10 PM ET
Source: MichaelChabon.Com
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, 1:00 AM ET
Source: Brick
Wednesday, June 15, 2005, 1:00 AM ET
Source: The Beat
Tuesday, June 7, 2005, 3:00 PM ET
Source: Salon
Dodgeball? My children were playing dodgeball? That cruel, brutal, violent schoolyard game so mercilessly satirized in the 2004 film with Ben Stiller? The game, more important, that exemplified everything that was wrong with my childhood in suburban New Jersey, a short, pasty-faced Jewish girl in a town full of scrubbed, blond, athletic WASPs, their long tanned limbs toned from years of tennis lessons and country club swim teams? Dodgeball? Over my dead body.
To find out what Waldman does about it, click here.