“I
like the idea that every page in every book can have a gem on it. It's probably
what I love most about writing - that words can be used in a way that's like a
child playing in a sandpit, rearranging things, swapping them around.” – Markus Zusak
When
I read The Book Thief and then later saw the movie, I thought it
had to have been written by a grizzled old writer who had the story in his or
her mind for decades, or who had the experiences in a longstanding family
history and then finally put them into a book before death got in the way and
left the story untold.
So,
I was shocked to learn that this heart-wrenching novel about the awful years in
Germany during the late 1930s and through World War II were, in fact, presented
to the world by a writer who wrote it in his late 20s and had it published just
before his 30th birthday.
Winner of dozens of awards, The Book Thief has been translated
into more than 40 languages.
Born
in Australia on June 23, 1975 Zusak wrote his first book The Underdog in
1999, the first of 5 books he had published before age 30. Challenging The Book Thief for “best
book” honors among those 5 was his 2003 multiple award-winner The Messenger
(I Am the Messenger in the U.S. version), adapted in 2023 as a television
series. To date, he has authored 7
novels and a nonfiction (“memoir-type”) book Three Wild Dogs and the
Truth, out in 2024.
His
third book When Dogs Cry was actually his first writing
effort. He started it as a teenager and
it took 7 years to get accepted. Since then it’s sold continuously and
won many awards around the globe, as has Zusak, who was named for the
American Library Association’s Margaret Edwards Award in 2014 for his
contribution to Young Adult literature.
“I
try hard and aim big,” Zusak said. “People can hate or love my books but
they can never accuse me of not trying.”
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