Portland Library Sees Rise in Cases of ‘Maus’ After Tennessee Community Bans It
Interest in a Holocaust graphic novel is growing at the Portland Library after it was banned in Tennesse.
Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” has long been considered a literary classic and a pioneering graphic novel. But after nearly 40 years on the shelves, it was efforts to silence his message that sent him into new hands in Portland.
The book depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father, a Holocaust survivor, about his experiences in Poland during World War II, including the Auschwitz concentration camp. It also explores how his father’s trauma affected their father-son relationship. The book is well known for its distinct art style: persecuted Jews are depicted as little mice and Nazi troops as vicious cats.
There has been a huge increase in the number of departures for the book in recent months, which is likely attributable to the attention given to its banned book status, said Vicky Smith, director of access services at the public library. from Portland.
Interest began to escalate shortly after a school district in Tennessee voted 10-0 to remove “Maus” from its program at the end of January. Since then, the Portland Public Library has seen so many requests that it has ordered three new copies.
That rarely happens for a book its age, Smith said. Sections of “Maus” were first published in a magazine in 1980. It was published in book form in 1986. Both volumes of Maus are available from the Portland Library, although it is “Maus I “which has received the most attention so far.
Although Smith noted that she didn’t speak to people who viewed “Maus,” she said the correlation was pretty clear. Although the library has experienced scattered interest in other recently challenged or banned books Nationally, no peak has been as evident as that of “Maus”.
Smith said it was somewhat discouraging that it was negative attention that drew readers to the book. Still, she’s happy that people are reading it and has no doubt that it moves those who put it out.
“It’s such a powerful story – both the narrative of the Holocaust and also a glimpse into what it’s like to be a grown child of a Holocaust survivor,” Smith said.
Portland isn’t the only place in Maine where efforts to ban the book have backfired: “Maus” was one of many banned books that a library on Matinicus Island off Rockland plans to use. add to its collection at the request of residents.
The book, the only graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, has also won acclaim from established authors, including Portland-based author Monica Wood, known for her novels including ‘The One-in-a-Million Boy’. , who called it a masterpiece.
Wood has loved ‘Maus’ for decades: his 1990s book ’12 Multicultural Novels: Strategies for Reading and Teaching’ provided a plan to teach it.
At the time, even the term “graphic novel” was barely in the popular consciousnessalthough “Maus” had, at that time, helped change that.
“I don’t understand why this book would be banned. It’s a great story about a father and son,” Wood said. “And it takes place against the vast backdrop of a part of history that, if we don’t continue to teach it, will be forgotten.”
From a writer’s perspective, Wood noted the visual devices that Spiegelman skillfully used to create empathy for his characters.
“There’s something visceral about the drawings themselves that allow you to enter the world of cats and mice, or Nazis and Jews, in a way that words would struggle to accomplish the same. task,” Wood said.
Wood said it was heartbreaking to see “Maus” banned along with so many other books across the country. Still, she was exuberant that the ban had turned around so profoundly.
“We have to open – not close,” Wood said. “Ideas are not lethal.”
Maus’ first book was the fourth best-selling non-fiction paperback among independent New England bookstores last week, according to data from members of the New England Independent Booksellers Association and Indiebound. These associations include dozens of bookstores in Maine.
As Smith sees the intense national attention around Maus eventually die down, she has no doubt it will resonate for years to come. Noting that most of the interest had come in the first volume, she hopes Portland readers will check out part two.
“It will always be an incredibly powerful piece of work that has the ability to move people and make them look at the world in a different way,” Smith said. “And that’s what we want to develop from the literature.”