Modern Marvels: Adventures in the Graphic Novel
The University Libraries are delighted to work with the Friends of Saint Paul Public Library and the University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies to present a second book discussion series in Let's Talk About It: Jewish Literature.
The Highland Park Branch of the Saint Paul Public Library will host the free five-part, scholar-led book discussion series called Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature – Modern Marvels. Judith Katz of the University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies will lead each discussion. See below for more information.
The series explores Jewish literature and culture through scholar-led discussions of contemporary and classic books on the theme of “Modern Marvels: Jewish Adventures in the Graphic Novel.” The program is the result of a grant to the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Libraries, which is partnering with The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. Local support is provided by the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota. Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature, a reading and discussion series, has been made possible through a grant from Nextbook and the American Library Association.
BOOKS
All programs take place on Tuesday evenings, 7 p.m. at the Highland Park Branch Library
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June 24 | A Contract with God by Will Eisner Set among 1930s Bronx tenements, these four stories capture the brutal, tender world of working-class Jews. In the title story, Frimme Hersh's daughter suddenly dies, sorely testing the "contract" this self-made man once entered into with God. In "Cookalein," Eisner casts a humorous eye on the amorous, social-climbing tendencies of young urbanites spending a summer in the Adirondacks. Wry, honest, and sad, these four stories showcase Eisner's unique ability to capture character with the quick stroke of his pen. |
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July 8 | The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale by Art Spiegelman The comic book transfigured, this graphic novel tells the story of Spiegelman's parents Vladek and Anna, Jews reaching maturity in a Europe on the verge of Nazism, and their terrifying history and eventual survival in the concentration camps. Spiegelman uses the broadest tools of the genre—Jews are drawn as mice, Nazis as cats, Poles as pigs, Frenchmen as frogs, and so on—to make vivid the unimaginable, both to the reader and to himself, appearing as a character in the book listening to his father's story. |
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July 22 | Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: Stories by Ben Katchor Steeped in a melancholy, grey-tinted world of elevated trains, luncheonettes, and gently decaying tenements, Katchor's perambulating photographer Julius Knipl documents a rapidly vanishing urban netherworld. Peopled by men who map the migration of hairstyles and those who belong to the Amalgamated Panty-Waist Fitters Union, his cityscape is a familiar one, albeit with the touch of a demented fairy tale. |
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August 5 | The Quitter by Harvey Pekar Ostensibly covering Pekar's early years, this dark graphic novel tackles everything from his brief stint in the Navy to jazz criticism and mid-century race relations. The gritty and atmospheric artwork by American Splendor collaborator Dean Haspiel perfectly captures Pekar's cantankerous tone. But a surprisingly hopeful message ultimately surfaces. It's possible to find your way in the world, Pekar suggests, even if it takes a lifetime to do it. |
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August 19 | The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar After eating a parrot, an aged Algerian rabbi's cat develops the ability to speak and quickly declares his desire not only to be Jewish, but to have a bar mitzvah. The rabbi engages his pet in a spiraling debate, touching on topics such as spelling, parental love, and the very nature of Jewish identity. |
ABOUT THE BOOKS
Learn more about the books in this series
GET COPIES OF THE BOOKS:
Check St. Paul Public Library for copies
Check the U of M Libraries for copies
Check Worldcat.org for copies at all local libraries
LOCATION
Highland Park Branch Library - Village View Room
1974 Ford Parkway
Saint Paul MN 55116
Photo: 2007 Let's Talk About It discussion group
REGISTER
Register by emailing s-gang@umn.edu or call 612 626-2281.
SCHOLAR
Judith Katz is author of several books and teaches at the University of Minnesota Center for Jewish Studies.
Katz has received several awards and grants, including a Loft McKnight Award, Fiction.
Her numerous writings include the novel, The Escape Artist and Running Fiercely Toward a High Thin Sound, for which she won the International Association of the Fantastic in the Arts Crawford Prize for Best New Fiction.
Further READING
All participants will receive a printed copy of an essay on the Modern Marvels theme written by Jeremy Dauber, Atran Assistant Professor of Yiddish language, literature, and culture at Columbia University.
Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota has copies of the books in the Modern Marvels series, and is the main library on campus for collections in Jewish studies and literature.
SPONSORS
Let’s Talk About It: Jewish Literature, a reading and discussion series, has been made possible through a grant from Nextbook and the American Library Association.
The University of Minnesota—Twin Cities Libraries is partnering with The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library with local support provided by the Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Minnesota.
