Sunday, March 27, 2011

I Met the Author of The Book Thief Last Night and it Was Special

Let me make something clear: I would (and did, before I knew) love Markus Zusak even if he were ugly. I would love him if we were old and disfigured or a woman with bad breath and by love I mean respect, appreciate, esteem, and admire. It doesn't matter to me. I'm in--I'm all in--with anyone who could write The Book Thief.


I was prepared to be a little disappointed. What if he's a jerk? What if he's not funny? What if writing the book was a fluke? What if he just got really, really lucky writing the book but in real life he's kind of a thoughtless buffoon? As it turns out, he is delightful, insightful, modest, entertaining, charming, obliging, appreciative, interesting, and unpretentious. He read the exact passage I had re-read the night before and he got a little choked up. It was a genuine treat. At that moment I thought, "Right now is what I love. This is my favorite. Other times I'm bored or stressed out or depressed or not having fun but right now is just what I like."

It was great to be there with hundreds of people who love the book as much as I do--my peeps, if you will. When Zusak came in, I couldn't believe he could write such a soulful book because he is so young and slight. It's kind of like how I don't really expect skinny people to be good moms. I only got fat after I started having kids so my mom-gravitas is all tied up with being chubby. It's incorrect, of course. Then again, if I'd been thin the whole time I've been a mom maybe I would never have become as humble and selfless as I am now. A body shaper has been my crucible. But I didn't tell Markus Zusak that!

He signed 5 books for me, which was nice. Of course,  I did wait in line for two hours. We talked about a lot of interesting things, Markus Zusak and I.  You should have been there. But you can still read The Book Thief. It's set in Nazi Germany, narrated by death, almost everyone dies, and it's over 500 pages long. Enjoy.

18 comments:

  1. Way to give an enthralling synopsis of the book there at the end. Good thing I already read it and liked it.:) See you Tuesday night!

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  2. One of my favorite books too! So jealous that you met him. Your photo looks really flirty btw. Good job!

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  3. I am so jealous you got to meet him. It's such a good book. People who don't like it are weird to me. I bet you were gracious and cool with him, unlike how I would have been: spazzy and obnoxious.

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  4. I loved the presentation, too. I'm sure all them middle-aged mormon ladies had a teensy crush on him, like I have now. It was as much fun as I could have hoped it would be, because did you know I got to see the blogger that I sort of stalk? She told me she'd get my book signed FOR me.
    Got my fingers crossed.

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  5. I was in line for tickets at 6am. I waited in line for 4 1/2 hours to get my book signed. I'm sure this means I love him even more.

    Great to see you there!

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  6. "...kind of like how I don't really expect skinny people to be good moms." L.O.L.

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  7. Look at you and Marcus, all chummy and intimate. Did you write "love you" on your eyelids?

    This post reminded me that because you so highly recommended it, I bought the book and started reading it when I was in Oregon at Christmas. And now I realize that I only got about 1/4 of the way through it and have lost it somewhere. I haven't seen it in months!

    I need to find it!

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  8. One of my top five books of all time. I still think about it even four years after reading it.

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  9. I worried about the same things you did. Glad I didn't need to. Love the book, too.

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  10. It's one of my favorites too. Life changing read, it was.

    And yes. I'm totally jealous that you met him. I would have been ridiculously giddy.

    I met William Joseph once. A piano player extraordinaire that I truly admire and respect because of his talent and humility... and I was a TOTAL IDIOT. Like a school girl. Flustered. Talkative. It was ridiculous. My husband was there, watching the whole thing, laughing out loud. Sweet of him, wasn't it?

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  11. He's probably been here in LA, but people like him get lost in the shuffle around here. Or maybe he hasn't been here. But I'm glad you got to see him. I loved the book too.

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  12. That's cool. It almost looks like you and he are on an intimate, book-reading date there -- does Christian know? =)

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  13. Anonymous1:07 AM

    I think it's a moving, powerful story. But I also thought Death's choppy interruptions marred the flow of the narrative, and that Death's voice was pretentious and annoying.

    (My, my, I'm quite the literary snob for a plump mom-of-five, aren't I? Luckily the dashing Mr. Zusak probably won't read the comments on this post.)

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  14. Hi - I'm relatively new here and I just LOVE your blog. Your writing style rocks. (I found you through my good friend Kate's blog - the big piece of cake!) Anyway, I haven't read this book yet! I am now convinced - and will make sure to read it as soon as we're sleeping through the night again!

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  15. It's really good - I'm glad that you recommended it to me. :)

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  16. I was spazzy and obnoxious, Carly, so I covered that.

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  17. I have yet to discover anything I'd wait that long in line for.
    I need passion in my life.
    But that was a great book.
    On another note, will you tell your friend Lisa that I love her posts on cleaning? I don't know her so I'd feel dumb telling her myself.

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  18. Oh wow, this is what I get for moving to NY. You are so lucky! I need to re-read that book.

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