Yesterday the Toronto Random House office had a bookseller reception for authors Avner Mandelman and David Mitchell. Each author spoke briefly about their books and had a signing.
Mr. Mandleman spoke first about why it took 36 years to write The Debba. The novel is about a former military assassin whose father, a war hero, has died. Once in Tel Aviv, he discovers that in order to receive his inheritance, he must stage a play called the Debba, which his father wrote, and which was only staged once, causing a riot at the time. From the book flap, "The Debba is a mythological Arab hyena that can turn into a man who lures Jewish children away from their families. To the Arabs he is a heroic national symbol; to the Jews he is a terrorist." Sounds interesting.
David Mitchell spoke on his new book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I took the liberty of video taping his talk, and am glad I did. He's a very personable author and his talk, though short, was full of humour. I especially liked how he mentions that writing isn't just ideas, it's also discipline. And that writing different genres is harder than it seems.
Mr. Mandleman spoke first about why it took 36 years to write The Debba. The novel is about a former military assassin whose father, a war hero, has died. Once in Tel Aviv, he discovers that in order to receive his inheritance, he must stage a play called the Debba, which his father wrote, and which was only staged once, causing a riot at the time. From the book flap, "The Debba is a mythological Arab hyena that can turn into a man who lures Jewish children away from their families. To the Arabs he is a heroic national symbol; to the Jews he is a terrorist." Sounds interesting.
David Mitchell spoke on his new book, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet. I took the liberty of video taping his talk, and am glad I did. He's a very personable author and his talk, though short, was full of humour. I especially liked how he mentions that writing isn't just ideas, it's also discipline. And that writing different genres is harder than it seems.
