Art Spiegelman reissues 'Breakdowns' with new perspective on book bans

NPR's Book of the Day

NPR

Arts, Books

4.2 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 19 January 2023

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Author and cartoonist Art Spiegelman is familiar with the hysteria surrounding certain library books. In today's episode, he tells NPR's Scott Simon about how comic book burnings during his childhood in the 1950s weren't all that different from book bans taking place across the country today. Spiegelman says that though they tackled difficult subjects, he found then – and continues to find today – great emotional power in comics, such as his reissued collection Breakdowns. And he says he's felt deeply unsettled by the ongoing challenges against these kinds of books.

See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey, it's Empire's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Lambeung.
0:05.6	Okay, this is a big one. You know, all this week we've been talking to these authors who've gotten their books banned recently, and I don't know if any author's banning has caused a bigger hubbub than Art Spiegelman.
0:16.6	Just a quick refresher, his acclaimed graphic memoir, Mouse, which covers his father's experience in the Holocaust,
0:22.5	was removed from the eighth grade curriculum in McMinn County, Tennessee early last year.
0:27.0	Of course, Mouse isn't his only comic, another one of his graphic memoirs, titled Breakdowns,
0:31.7	was recently re-released and Spiegelman talked to NPR Scott Simon about the rocky aspects of his home life the book covers.
0:39.0	But they do get to talking about the book-bending incident.
0:42.1	And I was surprised at how much the incident weighed on him.
0:45.4	You know, he's always come off to me as one of those like tough as nails, old school New York types.
0:49.9	But he says the whole affair left him unable to draw.
0:54.3	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:59.0	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors.
1:03.5	On our new show, Sources and Methods, NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people,
1:09.3	helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:13.2	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:19.3	Breakdowns has been published before.
1:21.9	Almost 45 years ago, it's been republished a couple of times.
1:26.2	And now, once again,
1:33.6	it is Art Spiegelman's large format graphic album of experimental comics about his early years,
1:42.4	his parents' lives, and a death, and the first stirrings and sightings of work that would change what comics can mean.
1:47.4	And Art Spiegelman, who wanted to Pulitzer Prize for his 1992 graphic novel, Mouse.
1:52.0	And this year was honored with the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.