november 2012 the Vol. XI No. 3 Figure in thecarpet Editor's Notes The Figure in the Carpet Will Be Online Only in 2013 Starting with the February 2013 issue, the Speaking of change, due to the high Figure in the Carpet will be available sole- level of interest in our Ken Burns event, Advisory Board ly as an online publication. This change which will take place at 5 pm on Friday, is not only the result of rising costs and a November 16, we are changing the venue. Nancy Berg Olivia limited budget, but also a response to the Please note the Burns event will take place Professor of Hebrew Lahs-Gonzales Language and Literature Director, potential of digital technologies. at Washington University’s 560 Music Sheldon Art Galleries Center at 560 Trinity Avenue in Ken Botnick As I noted in the November 2011 Edi- Professor of Art Steven Meyer University City. There should be ad- Director of Kranzenberg Associate Professor tor’s Notes, we now print over 8,750 cop- Book Studio of English ies of the Figure, and we mail almost 6,000 equate parking available. Burns will Gene Dobbs Anne Posega receive the International Humanities Bradford Head of Special of these to individuals on our mailing list. Executive Director, Collections, Although we have tried to economize by Medal and for his acceptance speech will Jazz St. Louis Olin Library reformatting to a larger size to reduce show clips from and discuss three up- Elizabeth Childs Qiu Xiaolong coming documentaries: Dustbowl, The Etta and Mark Steinberg Novelist and Poet mailing costs, the numbers on the mail- Professor of Art History Central Park Five, and The Roosevelts. Chair of Art History Joseph Schraibman ing list fortunately grow and the cost of Professor of Spanish providing them our service unfortunately This event is free and open to the pub- Mary-Jean Cowell lic. Please contact The Center for the Associate Professor of Henry Schvey grows even more. But we see this change Performing Arts Professor of Drama as an opportunity to strengthen and ex- Humanities at [email protected] Phyllis Grossman Wang Ning or 314-935-5576 for additional informa- Retired Financial Professor of English, pand the Figure by adding more graphics, Executive, LA66 Tsinghua University having interactive features, and generally tion. Michael A. Kahn James Attorney, Author and Wertsch enriching our content in ways we can- We promise to deliver our Figure to Adjunct Professor of Law Marshall S. Snow not do now. We will be able to commu- your email box. Please send your email Professor of Arts Zurab Karumidze and Sciences nicate with you more quickly, send out address to [email protected] by Write, Republic Associate Vice Chancellor of Georgia for International Affairs timely updates and alerts, and hear from December 15th, 2012. We hope we will

Peter Kastor you more directly. We believe our online reach more readers with a better, more Associate Professor of Ex Officio version of the Figure will serve you even vibrant publication that will be less costly. History and American Edward S. Macias Culture Studies Program Provost & Exec VC for better as a reading audience. We loved We appreciate your support. Academic Affairs Chris King doing our print version of the Figure as Editorial Director, Gary S. Wihl The St. Louis American Dean of Arts much as many of you loved reading it. But & Sciences we think we will love our online Figure even more, and if you give it a chance, we think you will too. Jian Leng Associate Director The Center for the Humanities

Published by The Center for the Humanities at Washington University in St. Louis visit our blog site at http://cenhum.artsciwustl.edu/pubs/blog.htm The Common Reader style and become a memory in the muse- Rich Progressives Ride to the Rescue um of historical antiquities. In my father’s Review of heavy security, and some colleges will not paradise there would be no strangers. No permit him speak at all. And as he notes one who felt like an outsider, alienated The New Leviathan: How the Left-Wing in Radical Son, some of his right-wing col- from others and at odds with themselves” Money Machine Shapes American (emphasis Horowitz, Radical Son). But as Politics and Threatens America’s Future leagues, knowing his past, do not entirely trust him. So, he has real but uneasy com- with any obsession, suppose you have sec- By David Horowitz and Jacob Laksin fort in his new home. ond thoughts? Horowitz states about his ex-colleagues on the Left: “To them I can Crown Forum, 2012, 309 pages It might be said that Horowitz, like never become one who felt what they felt, including index, notes, and appendices other “converts” of his type, has an axe to dreamed what they dreamed, suffered, and grind with the Left, and brings the zeal of 1. The Apostasy of Second Thoughts learned through pain. Seeing me as one of the reformed sinner to the scourge of his them would pose questions too humbling David Horowitz is one of the Right’s former “sinful” self in renouncing all of to face: What second thoughts might they most energetic and prolific polemicists. Satan the Lefty’s works, as it were. This have had too? What illusions would they He has written or edited well over twenty is a typical criticism and, on its face, not have to give up now?” Whether one likes books. He was a red diaper baby, having unjustified. It is one thing to be a politi- Horowitz the Leftist, who wrote screeds parents who were communists, Americans cal fanatic, to become disillusioned, and against the FBI for Ramparts magazine in by birth, Russian Jews by heritage; and he simply walk away from politics entirely the 1960s, or Horowitz the Right-winger, was an ardent Marxist and New Leftist rad- as if leaving a collection of hopped-up who writes screeds condemning the idea ical as a young man until the mid-1970s. rats clawing at each other in a maze that of reparations for slavery and the politics He describes his parents, his upbringing none of them realizes is indeed a maze. of the global warming movement, he is as and his years as a leftist in Radical Son: It is another thing to do the Saul-to-Paul engaging a reflection of the human condi- A Journey Through Our Times (1997). transformation and become the enemy tion and the complexity of having second Horowitz joins such disparate figures as you once despised with all your moral be- thoughts as someone who has undergone James Burnham, Sidney Hook, Roger Si- ing. It is one thing to quit a war as some- a sex-change operation. mon, and Whittaker Chambers, among thing absurd; it is another to go from the others, who started out as Communists or Union to the Confederacy, from the Allies 2. How the Left Won America by ardent Marxists but wound up as conser- to the Axis. However, “converts” tell us Winning the Rich vatives. In fact, Horowitz closely identi- much about the nature of obsession and David Horowitz sums up the reach of fied with Chambers in Radical Son: “I was about its necessity as a form of engage- “The New Leviathan" of his title in this like Whittaker Chambers [of my parents’ ment and belief: life is not about abandon- way: "The Left has created a powerful in- generation]—a young man inspired by the ing obsession as a proud cynic, too pure frastructure inspired by a compelling nar- high-minded passions of the Left who had to be tainted by its excesses and blun- rative, rarely challenged, in which they are broken through to the dark underside of ders, its contradictions and hypocrisies. cast as 'progressives,' as noble advocates of the radical cause. Like Chambers, I had Life is about finding the right obsession, the underdog 'speaking truth to power,' encounters with totalitarian forces that that which clarifies the world for you or selflessly standing up for the economically involved betrayal and death, and even a clarifies slightly more than it deludes. The disadvantaged and the politically disen- Soviet spy. Like him, I had been demon- “convert” can tell us about the heart of franchised. The reality… is quite differ- ized for my second thoughts by a culture darkness that drives all obsessions: he had ent. While claiming the mantle of a for- sympathetic to the Left and hostile to its discovered “the dark underside” of the the-people populism, progressives have adversaries. I, too, had to face the savage grand cause of Leftist politics. As Horow- operated as a moneyed elite, deploying personal attacks by my former comrades itz wrote about his father’s communism: the war chests of billionaires to redraw the that were designed to warn others to re- “Political utopians like my father had a political map to increase their power and main within the fold”. You cannot blame a master plan. They were going to trans- expand the role of the state with negative man who sees his apostasy as being heroic form the world from the chaos we knew consequences for working Americans and or honorable. After all, he paid a price for into a comfortable and friendly place. In the poor." Horowitz rightly points out it, a price most people, untroubling the the happy future they dreamed about, that the Left has always complained about waters with their convenient conformity there would be an end to grief from life being outspent by the Right in pushing its to whatever dominates their environment, out of control, life grinding you down and causes, that the Koch Brothers (the cur- are not willing to pay. Even today, he can- smashing your gut when you expected rent bête noir of the civilized world), John not speak on college campuses without it least. Human cruelty would go out of Olin, and Richard Scaife were bankrolling

2 November 2012 | The FIgure in the Carpet The Common Reader the Right, everything from right-to-work of this, there is nothing much to dispute conclusion: that rich progressives buy- laws to the Tea Party. The Left created an about what The New Leviathan says about ing the outcomes they want and throw- image of itself as the scrappy underdog, the wealthy Left and its institutional struc- ing their “reformist” weight around in the battling against the crushing millions of ture. Much of what Horowitz describes is culture ought to scare liberals as much as the right wing. Horowitz's book paints a echoed in liberal David Callahan’s Fortunes they are frightened by the rich Right doing different picture of a very well-financed of Change: The Rise of the Liberal Rich and the same. In either case, the rich, whether left-wing collection of major private foun- the Remaking of America (2010). so-called progressive or not, are disenfran- chising people through what they are do- dations like Ford, Mellon, Rockefeller, There are three major points that Horow- ing. (It has never occurred to liberals or the MacArthur, Pew Trusts, Heinz, among oth- itz wishes to make: 1) Barack Obama is Left that the Tea Party was started in part ers, a labyrinth of highly endowed entities largely the creation of this Left network by lower and middle class whites because run by highly educated liberal and leftist of rich liberal foundations, liberal prestige they felt disenfranchised by the passage of professionals who exercise an extraordi- universities, and progressive community Obamacare. Whether one agrees with how nary administrative and philosophical in- groups, which is certainly true and prob- they felt about that legislation, the fact that fluence in the philanthropic world. Liberal ably true for most of the black students of people feel disenfranchised ought to be and left-leaning foundations, according to my generation who attended high-status taken seriously. Everyone, whether or not Horowitz's appendices, far outnumber con- universities. We are, to that extent, even in we like their opinion, ought to feel they are servative ones. These foundations, in turn, our pursuit of Black Studies, the creatures being heard.) The progressives, no matter have funded to the tune of many millions of white philanthropic progressivism. But their pieties about being against hegemony of dollars such progressive organizations of this means something a bit more compli- and dominance, have never forsaken their the Puerto Rican Legal Defense Fund, the cated, both good and bad, than Horowitz love of power and control and social en- Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, suggests in his polemical analysis, in un- gineering any more so than the Right has. ACORN, Advocates for Community Em- derstanding how certain blacks have be- The politically activated rich wish to be, powerment, Global Exchange, La Raza, come the tail of the dog of the elite. 2) The and others that are meant to change both as Callahan calls it, “super-citizens,” more culture and policy in the United States. “democratically” equal than the rest. These are joined with other highly financed What Horowitz does not explore is why progressive groups like the anti-nuclear the Right is at a certain disadvantage in the Ploughshares, Greenpeace, the ACLU, the culture, policy, and image game in which Southern Poverty Law Center, and the they compete against the liberals and the like. Then, there are the high social status progressives. There seem to be three major universities including the Ivy League, Chi- reasons: first, the progressives have so far cago, Stanford, Duke, Vanderbilt, Berkeley, been on the right side of history more so Michigan, and a few dozen more, whose than the Right, who are saddled with hav- faculties are typically overwhelmingly lib- ing defended slavery, racial segregation, eral or self-identified progressives, who opposition to women’s rights, etc; second, tend to graduate students who are gener- the Right has always been considered to ally accepting of this ideology. Combined be anti-intellectual, anti-science, anti- with public employee labor unions and “nuance,” and has never been a place gen- George Soros's Shadow Party, all of this to- erally where intellectuals and the curious gether gives the Left a formidable network have gone for ideas. The Right, to be sure, of well-funded, well-organized groups and has its intellectuals and thinkers, (Albert organizations through which to spread its Jay Nock, Russell Kirk, Frank Chodorov, message and influence the nation's politi- William Frank Buckley, Ayn Rand, James cal agenda, from immigration to the en- Q. Wilson, Charles A. Murray, et al.), its vironment, from gay marriage and mass philosophy of individual freedom against incarceration to public education. It might the power of the state, its defense of capi- be called the vast left-wing or progressive talism and markets as a dynamic force for conspiracy and, according to Horowitz, it vast majority of this rich network of pro- change, its defense of tradition and duty is far stronger and richer than anything like gressives is answerable to no one for what as an anchor of society, its passionate ar- it on the Right. Although, as to be expect- they do. 3) Both Callahan the liberal and gument against the horrible tyranny of ed, Horowitz has an alarmist tone about all Horowitz the conservative reach the same equality as a false, dehumanizing utopia.

The FIgure in the Carpet | november 2012 3 The Common Reader (Read Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.'s “Harrison ibility. And the Right remains today not and out of date and thus has little place in Bergeron”) Indeed, one of the Right’s most as identified with the scholarly and intel- popular culture, the main influence on the powerful axioms—that it is destructive to lectual industries as the Left is. At the ma- young. give people too much too soon—is pro- jor colleges and universities, the question Horowitz’s book is lively and easy to foundly true since that aggravates three of is where are the conservatives. In short, read. Its polemical nature is likely to set our worst impulses, addictiveness, sloth the Right may have valid criticisms but on edge the teeth of many of the readers and greed. But the progressives have had not a coherent vision. They seem more the of this review who would probably pre- what seem like the more appealing and expression of warning and disapproval, of fer David Callahan’s book to get a similar charismatic ideas, and the ones that, at this the desire to thwart the future. In the im- story reflected in what many will feel is the moment, seem more humane in their aspi- age game, the Left is noble and the Right is appropriate ideological light. ration for human fulfillment and perfect- cranky. Third, the Right is square, unhip, Reinventing the Wheel: The Art of Survival in Post-Soviet Cuba Elzbieta Sklodowska Elzbieta Sklodowska is Randolph Family Professor of Spanish in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at Wash- ington University in St. Louis. Professor Sklodowska was a Faculty Fellow at the Center for the Humanities during Spring 2012, where she worked on a book project entitled “Still Lives: Cuban Literary and Cultural Production at the Edge of the Millenium.” Professor Sklodowska analyzed how cultural production in post-1991 Cuba reflects upon the dramatic changes experienced by its people after the collapse of the Soviet system.

Few events in recent history can ri- watched, by 1993 the economic, logistical, In January 1990, Fidel Castro an- val the watershed status of the fall of the and psychological predicament of the Cu- nounced that the country should brace up Berlin wall and the disintegration of the ban population had reached catastrophic for a “Special Period in Times of Peace.” Soviet bloc. For Cuba, the impact of these proportions, comparable only to a cata- Surviving the Special Period, the Coman- events was both immediate and trans- clysm of war or a massive natural disas- dante warned, would require extreme aus- formational. Subjected since 1962 to the ter. In 1992, the New York Times journalist terity measures, similar to those called for unrelenting US embargo, in the course of Lydia Chávez described Havana as a post- in wartime. Even though the rhetoric of four decades the country developed a full- apocalyptic city where waste itself became sacrifice and martyrdom had accompa- fledged dependency on its trade with the a rare commodity: “No gasoline meant nied Cubans throughout their history— Soviet bloc. More than a commercial af- no traffic. No trading partners meant no after all, according to the national anthem, fair, it was a gift economy of sorts, under- food. No movement or trade meant no to die for the country is to live—the current written by the Soviets for political reasons. trash; the city looked as if it had been crisis was as unprecedented as it was mo- By 1989 this exchange accounted for 85% picked clean.” mentous. For Cubans beset by massive of the island’s trade, with a staggering 80% shortages it was of little significance that of Cuban food consumption coming from the label “Special Period” implied the fi- Eastern Europe. With the collapse of the nite and anomalous nature of this episode Soviet bloc Cuba lost the protective shield within the longue durée of the Revolution. of sugar and oil subsidies, and a steady In spite of the official rhetoric of resistance supply of everything from canned meat associated with the Special Period, the to tractors. The system that had provided need to resort to a pre-industrial lifestyle each Cuban with a modest but equitable became a source of embarrassment for ration of food, along with cheap housing, Cubans, many of whom took pride in the electricity, transportation, and clothing, achievements of the Revolution. Luckily, collapsed almost overnight. As the grip of shame and despair are usually counterbal- the US embargo tightened and the world Havana’s ruined architecture, anced by Cuban self-deprecating wit as courtesy of Harriet Stone

4 November 2012 | The FIgure in the Carpet exemplified by a popular joke making the concoctions as traditional dishes, the term rounds since the Special Period: “What criollo offers an illusion of authenticity and are the three accomplishments of the Cuban a comforting sense of continuity amidst revolution? Health, education, and sports. the rupture of the 1990s. In its nostalgic What are the three failures of the Cuban recapturing of the past, the book reworks revolution. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” and reinvents traditional dishes and fills the inevitable void with relentless substi- Today, almost twenty years later, with tutions of ingredients. The final result is, the Special Period commonly perceived of course, a simulacrum or an ersatz bor- as a closed chapter in the still open-ended dering on caricature, such as the “steak” book of the Cuban Revolution, many of made from breaded and seasoned grape- us could probably compile a list of tropes Con nuestros propios esfuerzos fruit peel that was later featured in the TV and images emblematic of that era derived (With Our Own Effort), Havana: Verde cooking show by Nitza Villapol and found from books, photographs, songs, and art- Olivo: Cuban Revolutionary Armed its way into more literary works and jour- fully staged films. Such a list would most Forces, 1991, 300 pages. nalistic reports than into actual Cuban likely feature vintage American and So- production and consumption. households. viet cars, severe shortages, and a perennial favorite, a pig in the bathtub of an urban Con nuestros propios esfuerzos clearly In fact, many of the inventions listed in dwelling, all set against the backdrop of conveys the sense that the main drama of Con nuestros propios esfuerzos —such as crumbling colonial buildings, amidst the Special Period unraveled in the domes- horse-drawn funeral vehicles converted power outages and general disarray. But tic sphere, with women bearing the brunt into ambulances or windmills used to how would we imagine surviving on an of material shortages and remaining at the pump water—were never implemented. island, where for several years nothing forefront of the daily struggle. The book The material legacy specifically associated was brought from the outside and close to straddles the pragmatic and the surreal, with the Special Period is also quite lim- nothing produced at home? What would the genres of a self-help or do-it-yourself ited since most makeshift creations, while we feel tearing up books to light a fire for manual, on one hand, and a propaganda seldom discarded altogether, were often cooking? How would we react not only pamphlet, on the other. The inventions crafted into something else in a never- to an abrupt loss of material sustenance and innovations gathered in Con nuestros ending bricolage of rethinking, reusing, and basic infrastructure but, more impor- propios esfuerzos are embedded in a na- recycling and reinventing. tionalistic rather than a socialist-inflect- tantly, to the erosion of a socio-political Ernesto Oroza, an interdisciplinary vi- framework predicated on communal val- ed narrative. We may wonder, of course, whether these linguistic choices mirror yet sual artist and designer educated in Cuba ues in which we had a shared stake? In in the early 1990s and currently based in other words, how would we reinvent our another shift in the early Special Period, when, without relinquishing its anti-impe- Florida, should be recognized for the fore- lives in order to endure and move for- sight, sensitivity and perseverance in his ward? rialist core, the official rhetoric seemed to favor the patriotic slogan “Patria o Muerte efforts to create a comprehensive invento- A little-known book, Con nuestros pro- (“Homeland or Death”) over “Socialism ry of the relics of the Special Period. Like pios esfuerzos (With Our Own Effort), re- or Death.” In a large section of the book most collectors across the ages, Oroza was leased in 1991 by Verde Olivo, the pub- dedicated to recipes, the most overused motivated by the testimonial urge to sal- lishing house of the Cuban Revolutionary adjective appears to be “criollo” (Creole), vage. He sensed that these mundane me- Armed Forces, serves as a unique window which underscores the symbolic connec- mentos of painful times would eventually into the theory and practice of production tion between food and national tradition disappear, so he traveled across the island and consumption during the dire straits born out of cultural and ethnic hybrid- and gathered lanterns made of glass con- of the Special Period. This 300-page long ity. It seems that the revolutionary regime tainers and empty toothpaste tubes, shoes compendium describes and illustrates in had to look back and inwards in order to crafted from melted plastic bags, fans or technical detail a vast array of artifacts, move forward. The term criollo is meant even a bicycle propelled by a motor ex- recipes, and survival strategies collected to be reminiscent of the resourcefulness tracted from Soviet washing machines. from all over the island by local authori- of the mambises, fighters for Cuban inde- Ultimately, Oroza managed to look be- ties. Most of the examples would fall un- pendence, and of the defiant ingenuity of yond the rustic charm of these objects by der the familiar rubric of the “Three Rs”— cimarrones, runaway slaves. coining the term “technological disobedi- “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle”—the only ence,” which captures both the creativity difference being that, in contrast to the The references to Creole identity scat- and defiance of Cuban inventors. highly industrialized countries, in Cuba tered throughout the Verde Olivo publi- cation are meant to distract from the here Many objects from Oroza’s collection this approach grew out of scarcity, and not are idiosyncratic in terms of material and from the excesses of a throwaway mode of and now. By disguising the barely edible

The FIgure in the Carpet | november 2012 5 Reinventing the Wheel design, but they also respond to “univer- Marti,” not so incidentally sponsored sal” human desires and not just material by “The Voice of America.” needs. The aluminum tray antennas, which It remains to be seen whether made it possible for the Cubans to catch a the creative and defiant spirit of glimpse of broadcasts from Miami, reflect the Cuban people that lingers in the same urge to bypass the communist the body of vintage American cars propaganda in search of “truth” as the de- grafted onto the Soviet engines vice assembled from forks by a man in the will survive in the global economy. Soviet Union, as documented by Vladimir As Cuba waits to find out, so do we. Arkhipov in Home-made: Contemporary Russian Folk Artifacts (Thames & Hudson, 2006). It is almost too easy to imagine that Elzbieta Sklodowska is Randolph when the Russian listener behind the Iron Family Professor of Spanish at Curtain was tuning his forks in to “The Washington University in St. Louis. Voice of America,” his or her Cuban coun- terpart might have been listening to “Radio

Behind the Maus Mask Review of the moments when he was least safe, and for the new book MetaMaus, a 234-page where there were just such high stakes and Q&A with the author that is supplement- MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus disaster everywhere,” explains Spiegelman. ed with sketches from Maus, family trees, “Yet for both him and me there was a cer- chronologies, images from Spiegelman’s By Art Spiegelman tain kind of familial coziness on some level research, and Q&As with his immediate of having something to talk about other family. Pantheon, 2011, 299 pages with full- color illustrations, index, and DVD than our disappointment with each other.” Hillary Chute, a Neubauer Family Assis- “At the time,” says Spiegelman’s wife, tant Professor in the Department of Eng- When Pantheon published Art Spiegel- Françoise Mouly, in the new book MetaM- lish at the University of Chicago, conduct- man’s Maus I: A Survivor’s Tale: My Father aus, “a long literary comic book, a comic ed the interviews with Spiegelman in 2006. Bleeds History in 1986, comic books, which book that makes you laugh, cry and em- (But it seems that Spiegelman put the book most people associated with little boys, pathize, whose characters stay with you together since Chute doesn’t get an author bubblegum and the Sunday paper, were the way characters in a novel do… that all credit.) The book deals with the three ques- suddenly viewed as a serious medium that sounded like the vision of a madman then.” tions Spiegelman is most commonly asked: could recount one of the twentieth cen- Maus I and the follow-up Maus II: A Sur- Why the holocaust? Why mice? Why com- tury’s most grisly events: the mass Jewish vivor’s Tale: And Here My Troubles Began ics? A DVD is also included with the book genocide during World War II. Maus sig- (1991) won Spiegelman the Pulitzer Prize, (that is impossible to get back in its case in naled the birth of the graphic novel. the LA Times Book Prize for Fiction, and the book’s front cover) that contains the Maus is about Spiegelman’s father, the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album. complete Maus with hyperlinks to sketches Vladek, a Polish Jew who lived through Maus was translated into 18 languages. In and more supplementary material. World War II. He recounts marrying Art’s 2005 Speigelman was named to Time mag- The Q&A format is notoriously tedious, mother, his stint in the Polish Army, living azine’s list of the “Top 100 Most Influential and this one can become tiresome for the in the Jewish ghettos, going to Auschwitz People” in the world. average reader. (Comic book fans will and being rescued by American GIs. Spie- Now Maus, which interprets Hitler’s probably love the last chapter about com- gelman interviewed his father for years be- thinking that different religions and na- ics.) But Spiegelman includes entertain- cause he was trying to find a way to talk to tionalities are genetically different by mak- ing anecdotes about watching Part I of the his father after his mother killed herself in ing Jews mice, Germans cats, Poles pigs, 1978 TV miniseries Holocaust with legend- 1968. “The safety zone in my relationship and so on, is taught in high schools and ary cartoonist Robert Crumb or going to with my father took place in discussing universities, which explains the audience Germany to make a documentary with the

6 November 2012 | The FIgure in the Carpet Behind the Maus Mask Out of context this may even Spiegelman is known for being painfully strike some readers as self-cen- honest, and he doesn’t hide anything here. tered, especially in an extensive He insists that he’s not a good draftsman Q&A where Spiegelman says and laughs at his own moments of arro- things like: “Maus changed the gance. And after all, claiming that Maus is face of the way the medium I work not just about Auschwitz or a son trying in is perceived,” and “the review to understand his father, but is also about [by Ken Tucker in the New York the creation of Maus itself is an uneasy Times] described Maus as prob- confession. But Spiegelman again refuses ably the most important literary to subsume the present in a preference for event of our times, or something the past, refuses to forget himself in order like that.” It’s a testament to Spie- to gawk at the horror of Auschwitz. That gelman’s intelligence and charm is what makes Maus resonate today, and that he never does seem like he’s a deeper exploration of that resonance is thumping his chest. “This guy is what makes MetaMaus so worthwhile. charming, he’s entertaining, he’s as smart as anybody could be,” says Mouly. “He doesn’t have the Rosalind Early is assistant editor of St. slightest ounce of pretension.” You Louis Magazine and Stlmag.com and a tend to think a wife is biased, but 2003 graduate of Washington University in as the story of the creation of Maus St. Louis. unfolds, you realize she isn’t. Spiegelman tried to do many things with Maus. He wanted to ZDF, a German television network. avoid sentimen- tality or superciliousness. But MetaMaus’s real strength is show- He wanted to analyze ing the research that went into the comic time, which made the book. “Everyone assumes that Maus was comic book format all the C HILDREN AND W AR inevitable, was always meant to exist,” says more appealing because FROM THE CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES Francoise Mouly. “The world behaves as if past and present could Maus is an exotic animal and Art a clever be laid out on a single biologist who ‘discovered’ it, named it and page. “The juxtaposing of brought it out to everyone’s attention.” But past and present insists the book is extremely deliberate and took that past and present are Spiegelman thirteen years to write. always present,” Spei- Even Maus scholars will find interest- gelman explains. “One ing revelations here, like Spiegelman’s in- doesn’t displace the oth- sistence that “the story of Maus isn’t just er the way it happens in the story of a son having problems with his film.” It’s also about “the Do children belong in war? What happens to war retrieval of memory and when it is viewed through children’s eyes? This father and it’s not just the story of what a course will explore these questions by looking at father lived through. It’s about a cartoon- ultimately, the creation twentieth-century representations of war and ist trying to envision what his father went of memory.” Spiegelman childhood in American children’s books, comics, through. It’s about choices being made, of admits that now he can’t childhood memoirs, and science fiction. finding what one can tell, and what one remember details about can reveal, and what one can reveal be- his father’s life and has to Beginning in the 1930s and running up to the L56 CFH 323 present day, we will debate not only the role of L98 AMCS 3230 yond what one knows one is revealing. look in Maus to remem- M/ W 1-2 :3 0 PM war in childhood development but also the role of Dr. Benjamin Those are the things that give real tensile ber. “I guess that’s how Co o per the child in war’s development. 3 credits strength to the work—putting the dead memory works though,” into little boxes.” Spiegelman says. “It gets replaced by language.”

The FIgure in the Carpet | november 2012 7 The Ninth Annual Children's Films Showcase An Exploration of Children’s Films and Their Audiences Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, November 9th, 10th, and 11th, 2012

he Center for the Humanities at Washington University, in conjunction with the Film and Media Studies of Washington University and Cinema St. Louis, will host a three-day festival on Children’s Film on November T9th, 10th, and 11th, 2012. The Showcase will include lectures, film screenings, and Q&A sessions with film directors or producers after the shows. The Children’s Film Showcase will be held in Washington University’s Brown Hall Auditorium. Friday, November 9 6 p.m., Disney’s A Poem Is … (Producer Brian Hohlfeld, 60 min., in English, ages 5-8) Brian Hohlfeld Nicole Dubuc Native St. Louisan Brian Hohl- Children 10 and younger will have a chance to win a new feld will introduce the films Transformers: Rescue Bots DVD. and hold a Q&A. He co-created Transformers: Rescue Bots with Nicole Dubuc and Jeff Kline, and wrote Winnie the Pooh, includ- ing My Friends Tigger & Pooh, and the script for the movie He Said, She Said. This short-form animated series in which each episode is only a few Jessica Alba minutes long showcases poems for children. The series is designed to Saturday, November 10 cultivate fond memories of Disney classics for older viewers and create new ones for kids by intro- 12 p.m., Family ducing young children to the beauty of a poem. Shorts Program (91 min., in 7 p.m., Tigger, Transformers, and Tropes: Telling Stories in TV English, all ages) Animation (Screenwriters Nichole Dubuc and Brian Hohlfeld, 90 min., in English, all ages) This delightful se- lection of shorts offers Nicole Dubuc and Brian Hohlfeld, who have more than entertainment for the 300 animated episodes to their combined credit, will take the entire family. audience through the process of how the shows are created and how animated storytelling continues the tradition of mythic narrative. Anansi and Turtle (Andrew Aiton, U.S., 2012, 4 min.) Bent (Brent Dawes, South Africa, 2011, 5 min.) Bhavri (Sonia Gaud Tiwari, U.S., 2012, 5 min.) The Dot (Gary Goldberger & John Lechner, U.S., 2004, 6 min.) The End of Summer (Seth Wochensky, U.S., 2012, 12 min.) The Gruffalo’s Child (Johannes Weiland & Uwe Heidschotter, U.K., 2011, 26 min.)

8 November 2012 | The FIgure in the Carpet Hoverboard (Sydney Freeland, U.S., 2012, 6 min.) I Love Rock & Roll (Brent Dawes, South Africa, 2009, 5 min.) Ish (Gary Goldberger & John Lechner, U.S., 2005, 7 min.) Misery Guts (Abbie Stephens, U.K., 2011, 3 min.) Snap (Thomas G. Murphy, Belgium, 2012, 7 min.) Tom & the Queen Bee (Andreas Hykade, Germany, 2012, 5 min.) 2 p.m., Le Tableau (Jean-Francois Laguionie, France, 2012, 78 to its native land, fulfilling his promise to Zarafa’s late mother. min., in French with 2 p.m., Tales of the Night (Michel Ocelot, France, 2011, 84 min., English subtitles, in French with English ages 8 and older; subtitles, ages 8 and older) film includes a scene The film weaves together with a Picasso-style six exotic fables that each nude painting) unfold in a unique locale, Halfie Claire runs including Tibet, medieval away into the forest; Europe, an Aztec kingdom, her beloved Ramo the African plains, and even the Land of the Dead. and best friend Lola journey after her, where they tumble through the canvas and into the Painter’s studio. 4 p.m., Winter’s Daughter (Johannes Schmid, Germany, 2011, 90 min., in German, Polish, and Russian with English subtitles, 4 p.m., Will (Ellen Perry, U.K., 2011, 102 min., in English, ages ages 10 and older) 10 and older) Kattaka lives in Berlin Eleven-year-old Will with her pregnant mother Brennan is soccer team and the man she thinks is Liverpool FC’s biggest her father. When she dis- fan. Life is turned upside covers her true biological down when his long-ab- father is a Russian mer- sent father, Gareth, dies chant sailor, she sets off in suddenly. The boy runs an old van on a trip along away to Turkey to honor the Polish coast to find her “real” father. The film won the Award his father’s memory, and in Gold for Outstanding Children or Youth Film at the 2012 Ger- finally accomplishes his dream. man Film Awards. 7 p.m., Liars, Fires, and Bears (By director Jeremy Cloe, U.S., 2012, 7 p.m., Camilla Dickinson (By director Cornelia Duryée Moore, 101 min., in English, ages 10 U.S., 119 min., in English) and older) Cornelia Duryée Moore Jeremy Cloe will introduce will introduce the film the film and hold a Q&A. and hold a Q&A. Eve and Dave devise a plan An adaptation of Mad- to reunite with Eve’s brother, eleine L’Engle’s renowned and the two embark on an un- novel Camilla this is a likely cross-country road trip. family story of 15-year- With a precocious kid behind old Camilla Dickinson, who has led a sheltered life. When she the wheel and an immature wants to escape her parents’ difficult relationship, she forms an man-child navigating, Eve and Dave discover that the quickest unlikely friendship with Frank. Frank introduces Camilla to a route to their destination is through each other. colorful and mysterious new world. Sunday, November 11 12 p.m., Zarafa (Rémi Bezançon, France, 2012, 78 min., in French with English subtitles, ages 8 and older) The symposium is free and open to the public. For more Maki, a 10-year-old boy, does everything in his power to thwart information, please contact the Center for the Humani- the Prince of the Desert and bring Zarafa, an orphaned giraffe, ties at 314-935-5576 or at [email protected]

The FIgure in the Carpet | november 2012 9 November 2012 Literary Calendar Thursday, November 1 and Chuck Korr. Admission $15—Free with Series Fashion, refreshments and prizes! Please bring a gently & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or worn pair of shoes to donate. Admission $20—Free You are invited to a lecture by Bill McKibben, an by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available environmental writer and advocate, entitled “350: The and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 10am, online or by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of Most Important Number in the World.” 7pm, Graham Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family the festival and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. Chapel, Washington University Danforth Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. Activities 6pm, presentation 7pm, Neiman Marcus Campus, 935-4620. Plaza Frontenac, 1701 S. Lindbergh Blvd. The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents the Fiction Vaunda Micheaux Nelson will discuss and sign Panel, featuring moderator Ellen Futterman and Friday, November 9 her books, which include No Crystal Stair, Bad authors Susan Isaacs and Francesca Segal. Ad- News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of mission $15—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents R.L. Stine Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshal and Almost Tickets are available online or by calling 442-3152. Day. The New York Times bestselling author of the to Freedom. Books for sale courtesy of Left Bank Complete schedule of the festival and more info at Goosebumps and Fear Street series—and the Books. 7pm, SLPL-Buder Branch, 4401 Hampton stljewishbookfestival.org. 1pm, Jewish Commu- brand new adult thriller RED RAIN—will be featured Ave., 352-2900. nity Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone in two exciting festival presentations: Goosebumps Campus Dr. (ages 7-13) at 10:30am and RED RAIN (a live on-stage Jeremy M. Davies, alumnus of Washington interview with Heather Brewer) at 1pm. Goose- University’s MFA Program and editor at Dalkey Archive Wednesday, November 7 bumps admission $10, 50% off for students—FREE Press, will be speaking about his work, including his with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. RED RAIN admission first book, Rose Alley. 8pm, Hurst Lounge, Duncker Join A.J. Jacobs’ hilarious, epic and well-researched $15—FREE with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Jewish Hall, Rm. 201, Washington University Danforth quest to become the healthiest man in the world. Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Campus, 935-5190. Editor-at-Large of Esquire magazine, and NPR con- Millstone Campus Dr. tributor, Jacobs shares important findings on healthy Saturday, November 3 living and nutrition at the St. Louis Jewish Book SLPC's 2nd Friday Notes at Whole Foods Market Festival, along with his outrageously funny tales of Cafe in Town and Country, Clayton and Woods Mill, SLWG Workshop for Writers presents Nancy the “caveman workout,” pole dancing and “chew- 63021. Poets Matthew Freeman and Mary de- Baumann of Stonebrook Publishing on “Ten daism.” Admission $15—Free with Series & Series Grandpre Kelly will read. The poetry and music begin Crimes that Published Authors Commit and How to PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or by calling at 7pm. Free. www.stlouispoetrycenter.org Skirt Them.” 10am, Kirkwood Community Center, 111 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival and more S. Geyer Rd., for details and registration for door prize, info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 10:30am, Jewish Saturday, November 10 please visit http://www.stlwritersguild.org/. Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. Clayton Century Foundation and St. Louis Sunday, November 4 County Library present Mary Leonard, author The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents the Memoir of Clayton, Missouri: An Urban Story. Ms. The 34th Annual St. Louis Jewish Book Fes- Panel, featuring moderator Dr. J.L. Kemp and Leonard will speak about her new book and answer tival presents its keynote speaker, Carrie Fisher, authors Eve Keller, Leslie Maitland and Susan questions. Autographed books will be available for on its opening night in a live, on-stage interview with Resnick. Admission $15—Free with Series & Series purchase. 10am, SLCL-Mid-County Branch, Large KMOX NewsTalk Radio’s Charles Brennan. The PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or by calling auditorium, 7821 Maryland Ave., 994-3300. festival will run from November 4th through November 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival and 15th. Admission $36—Free with Series & Series PLUS more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 1pm, Jewish Nutrition consultant and author Vanessa C. Wil- Tickets. Tickets are available online or by calling 442- Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 liams presents "Nutrition and Holistic Health: What’s 3152. Complete schedule of the festival and more info Millstone Campus Dr. on Your Thanksgiving Day Table?" She will discuss her at stljewishbookfestival.org. 7pm, Jewish Commu- book The Breath of Life Detox and eating healthi- nity Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival’s Community er foods for optimal health. Join Vanessa and get some Campus Dr. Kristallnacht Program features Caroline Stoess- ideas for eating healthy on Thanksgiving Day. Books inger, a concert pianist and producer of the televised for sale courtesy of the author. 11am, SLPL-Baden Monday, November 5 dedication of the Schindler violin at the U.S. Holocaust Branch, 8448 Church Rd., 388-2400. Memorial Museum. Special guests: Noemi Karpati As part of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, Giu- Neidorff and Dr. Robert E. Lefton. Admission Poet Jeff Friedman presents a Fee Workshop "Writing liano Hazan, author of four cookbooks, will share $10—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets in Open Forms" from 10am to 3pm, lunch included. delicious recipes and family stories of Shabbat dinners are available online or by calling 442-3152. Complete Location TBA. Limited to 12 pre-registered participants, at Nonna Giulia’s with the festival audience. Admission schedule of the festival and more info at stljewishbook- $60, $50 for SLPC members. Info: feeworkshop@ $15—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets festival.org. 7:30pm, Jewish Community Center, stlouispoetrycenter.org or call 973-0616. are available online or by calling 442-3152. Complete Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. schedule of the festival and more info at stljewishbook- Sunday, November 11 festival.org. 1pm, Jewish Community Center, Thursday, November 8 The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents a concert Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. As part of the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival, event, Beethoven, Bach & the Beatles, a magi- Come sing along with Grammy-winning singer/song- Michael Bar-Zohar will discuss his recent book The cal, musical evening featuring St. Louis Symphony writer, human rights award winner and founder of the Mossad: The Greatest Missions of the Israeli Concertmaster David Halen, musicians from the anti-bullying awareness program for children, Opera- Secret Service, a gripping account of the agency Symphony, and Beatles Band Flaming Pie. Admis- tion Respect, Peter Yarrow at the St. Louis Jewish widely recognized as one of the world’s most skilled sion $20—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Book Festival. Admission $18—Free with Series & intelligence services. Admission $15—Free with Series Tickets are available online or by calling 442-3152. Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or by & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or Complete schedule of the festival and more info at calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival stljewishbookfestival.org. 7pm, 560 Music Center, and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 7:30pm, and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 10:30am, 560 Trinity Ave. (on Delmar—formerly B’nai Amoona). Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. Monday, November 12 Tuesday, November 6 From ruby red slippers, white go-go boots, platforms The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents Anne- and Birkenstocks, to Manolo Blahniks & Jimmy Choo’s, Marie O’Connor, author of The Lady in Gold: The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents Mis- author Rachelle Bergstein entertains with history, The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt’s souri’s Own Program, featuring moderator tidbits and a fascinating look at the social history Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Michael Kahn, Ellen Abramson, Marc Elliot, of women as seen through the history of our shoes. O’Connor is a former foreign correspondent for Reuters

10 November 2012 | The FIgure in the Carpet and current writer for the Washington Post. Special The Foreign Literature Reading Group will discuss The 7pm, SLCL-Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., Guest: Lisa Easton Silverberg, docent at the St. Colonel by Mahmoud Dowlatabadi. 7:30pm, Wash- 994-3300. Louis Art Museum. Admission $15—Free with Series ington University West Campus Center, 7425 & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or Forsyth Blvd., 727-6118. St. Louis Writer’s Guild Lecture Series presents by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival award-winning poet, lyricist and author Marcel and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 1pm, Award-winning sportscaster Len Berman, author Toussaint. 7pm, at Buder Family Student Commons, Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family of The Greatest Moments in Sports: Upsets Maryville University. For more information visit Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. and Underdogs, rallies sports fans with his latest http://www.stlwritersguild.org/ collection of memorable sports moments, guaranteed Special Collections at Washington University to raise a cheer and remind us anything is possible. The Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter in St. Louis invites you to the inaugural event of the Admission $18—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tick- Michael Bolton shares his personal journey of 40 Modern Literature Reading Series. Renowned ets. Tickets are available online or by calling 442-3152. years in the music industry at the St. Louis Jewish Book poet and WUSTL faculty member Carl Phillips, along Complete schedule of the festival and more info at Festival’s final event. Admission $18—Free with Series with two current WUSTL MFA students, will read stljewishbookfestival.org. 7:30pm, Jewish Commu- & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or selections from poets’ papers in the Modern Literature nity Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival Collection, as well as their own work inspired by these Campus Dr. and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 7:30pm, poets. A reception will follow, and books from the Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family Modern Literature Collection poets will be for sale. Celebrated author of The Christmas Box, Richard Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. 6pm, Olin Library Special Collections, 935-5495, Paul Evans, presents his newest inspirational holiday http://library.wustl.edu/units/spec/. novel, A Winter’s Dream.7pm, SLCL-Headquar- Saturday, November 17 ters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 994-3300. The BIG Jewish Community READ, part of the St. Louis Have breakfast with local media author and authority Jewish Book Festival, features Nathan Englander, Wednesday, November 14 Frank Absher as he talks about his recently released award-winning author of For the Relief of Un- book, St. Louis Radio and Television. Refresh- bearable Urges and The Ministry of Special The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents Jesse ments will be provided, and copies of his book will be Cases. The event will be a LIVE, on-stage interview Kellerman, internationally best-selling author of available for purchase and signing. 10am, SLPL-Bud- with Ezra Glinter, deputy arts editor of The Jewish Potboiler, a snappy suspenseful satire. Admission er Branch, 4401 Hampton Ave., 352-2900. Daily Forward. Admission $15—Free with Series & $15—Free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or by are available online or by calling 442-3152. Complete Sunday, November 18 schedule of the festival and more info at stljewishbook- calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival The Book Club invites you to join their 442nd discus- and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 7:30pm, festival.org. 1pm, Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. sion on An American Dream by Norman Mailer. Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family For more information about time and venue, email Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival’s Mom’s Night [email protected]. Out features authors Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Tuesday, November 13 Ann Zoellner. Their book, SH*TTY MOM: The Monday, November 19 Start your morning with laughter and everything Parenting Guide for the Rest of Us is an ir- reverent, outrageous, laugh-out-loud funny book for River Styx’s newly renamed and relocated reading you always wanted to know about comedy. David th any parent! Admission $18—Free with Series & Series series, River Styx at the Tavern, continues its 38 Misch, a screenwriter (Saturday Night Live, season with readings from River Styx’s former manag- Duckman, Police Squad!) and blogger for The PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival and more ing editor Michael Nye and Louisiana poet, essayist Huffington Post, takes the stage to share “The and teacher Alison Pelegrin. Admission is $5 at History of Ha!” at the St. Louis Jewish Book Festival. info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 7:30pm, Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 the door, or $4 for seniors, students and members. Admission $15—Free with Series & Series PLUS 7:30pm, Tavern of Fine Arts, 313 Belt Ave. Tickets. Tickets are available online or by calling Millstone Campus Dr. 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival and more Saturday, November 24 info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 10:30am, Jewish Thursday, November 15 Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 The St. Louis Jewish Book Festival presents Lunch & Authors @ Your Library presents: Celebrate Millstone Campus Dr. Learn with Dr. Ruth Westheimer, America’s most- the 121st birthday of the Julia Davis Branch Library’s namesake with a special lecture and The award-winning broadcast journalist Lynn Sherr, trusted name in relationship therapy and author of Dr. Ruth’s Guide for the Alzheimer’s Caregiver: book discussion featuring Terry Baker Mulligan. author of Swim: Why We Love the Water, Mulligan will discuss and sign her memoir, Sugar invites us to jump in and explore the wonderful, How to Care For Your Loved One Without Getting Overwhelmed. Dr. Ruth turns the focus Hill: Where the Sun Rose Over Harlem. Books whimsical, wet world of swimming at the St. Louis available for sale. Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Jewish Book Festival. Admission $15—Free with Series on Alzheimer’s caregivers, offering help, support, and encouragement to an overburdened and grow- Julia Davis Branch Library. Free and open to the public. & Series PLUS Tickets. Tickets are available online or Refreshments. 2pm, SLPL-Julia Davis Branch, by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of the festival ing population. Admission: $26 luncheon, book and presentation; $18 presentation only. Only presentation 4415 Natural Bridge Ave., 383-3021, http://www.slpl. and more info at stljewishbookfestival.org. 1pm, org/events/calendar.asp. Jewish Community Center, Staenberg Family free with Series & Series PLUS Tickets. Reservations Complex, 2 Millstone Campus Dr. are required for this program. Tickets are available online or by calling 442-3152. Complete schedule of Tuesday, November 27 Station Open Mic at the Kirkwood Train the festival and more info at stljewishbookfestival. St. Louis Poetry Center hosts the national book Station, 7pm, 110 W. Argonne Dr. Free and open org. Luncheon 12pm, Presentation 1pm, Jewish release event and reading for the National Veter- to the public. For more information, visit http://www. Community Center, Staenberg Family Complex, 2 ans’ Anthology. The new anthology, Proud to stlwritersguild.org/ Millstone Campus Dr. Be: Writing by American Warriors, was edited Undergraduate students currently enrolled in Creative by Susan Swartwout and includes the winning pieces Writing courses at Washington University in St. Louis from the Warriors Arts Alliance’s national contest. will read from their work. 7pm, Hurst Lounge, Duncker The anthology will be on sale at the event with many Hall, Rm. 201, Washington University Danforth of the anthology contributors present to sign copies. Campus, 935-5190. Free. 7:30pm, doors open at 7pm, The Focal Point, 2720 Sutton Blvd., Maplewood, 314-973-0616, www. Former St. Louisan and queen of humorous suspense stlouispoetrycenter.org. Elaine Viets presents the latest installment in her popular Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper series.

The FIgure in the Carpet | november 2012 11 Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Financial assistance for this project has been pro- vided by the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, St. Louis, MO and the Regional Arts Commission. Permit No. 2535 Dated Material Postmaster please deliver by October 30-November 1, 2012

The Center For The Humanities Campus Box 1071 Umrath 217 One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899 Phone: 314. 935.5576 Email: [email protected]

The Cultural History of Thursday, November 29 the American Teenager Acclaimed historian and editor of the National Interest, Robert Merry, Tuesdays & Thursdays 1:00-2:30 pm discusses his book Where They Stand: The American Presidents in the Eyes of Voters and Historians, an engaging look at American history through Center for the Humanities L56 342 the presidency. Presented by the Buzz Westfall Favorite Author Series. American Culture Studies L98 336H 7pm, SLCL-Headquarters, 1640 S. Lindbergh Blvd., 994-3300. Special Events/Notices

Contest deadline Dec. 1—The St. Louis Writers Guild has sponsored an annual short story contest since 1920, which makes it one of the country’s oldest writing contests. Tennessee Williams won first place in 1935 for his story “Stella for Star.” Historically, entries have come from across the nation and Canada. Stories are blind-judged by an expert in the fields of writing and literature. This This course will explore the recent history of the year’s judge is mystery writer Christine Matthews. You do not need to be a member of SLWG to participate. The entry fee is $15 for the first manuscript and teenager in the United States, from the rise of $10 for the second; limit two entries. Check www.stlwritersguild.org for submis- teen culture in the 1950s to the current state of sion guidelines. adolescence in the new century. Why have so many novels and movies Enjoy The Night Season by Rebecca Lenkiewicz, directed by William Whita- memorialized adolescence? How has this period of development been ker, presented by the Performing Arts Department of Washington portrayed in books and film? How have depictions and attitudes toward University in St. Louis. Three sisters from Sligo let a movie actor playing Wil- liam Butler Yeats stay in their home, triggering a bold comedic drama about loss teen culture changed over the past fifty years? And what do these and love. A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre, November 15, 16 & 17 at 8pm; November depictions of teen culture can tell us about larger trends and concerns 17 & 18 at 2pm. in American life? For more information, contact Professor Matthew Shipe ([email protected]). All events are free unless otherwise indicated. Author events are followed by signings. All phone numbers take 314 prefix unless indicated. Check the online calendar at cenhum.artsci.wustl.edu for more events and additional details. To advertise, send event details to [email protected], fax 935- 4889, or call 935-5576. Make a Gift to the Center for the Humanities Abbreviations oin other donors and supporters Send your check, payable to STL: St. Louis; B&N: Barnes & Noble; KPL: Kirkwood Public Li- Jto ensure that the Center for the Washington University, to: brary; LBB: Left Bank Books; SLCL: St. Louis County Library; SLPL: Humanities can continue to fulfill its The Center for the Humanities St. Louis Public Library; SCCCL: St. Charles City County Library; mission. Help us continue to make the c/o Shannon McAvoy Grass humanities a part of public life and your UCPL: University City Public Library; UMSL: University of Missouri-St. Washington University in St. Louis own life. Campus Box 1202 Louis; WU: Washington University; WGPL: Webster Groves Public Library. One Brookings Drive St. Louis, MO 63130-4899

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