Q&A with Marc Aronson
Q: How did the idea for Race come about?
A: The book had two origins—just as a child has two parents. My editor, Ginee Seo, suggested I write a book on the history of prejudice, and I set out to do just that -- tracing biases based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and class back to prehistory and all around the world. I loved the research, but it soon became clear that my book would have to be an encyclopedia, which is not what I had in mind. I wanted the book to be a good read, and a more personal statement, not a pure reference. As I struggled with that, I had an experience at our local swimming pool where I saw race prejudice coloring my own thoughts and feelings. And that came just as Ginee said she thought the best writing in the first draft was in the parts about race and racism. So we agreed to change the book from this immense survey to the smaller but still challenging topic of race and racism. We also limited the focus to the West, again to make the topic just a bit more manageable—though I still tried to smuggle in as much about the whole world as I could.
Q: Race is such an expansive and complex topic. Was it difficult for you to narrow your focus and keep this book within reach of its intended readership?
A: I think that young people are cheated out of getting the best, most interesting, thinking about our world because adults either talk over them or under them. Either we use academic abstractions, or so simplify that we are saying nothing. In order not to do that, I decided to begin each section with short pieces that give modern analogies to the historical themes I was about to discuss. That way a reader could begin with a cool, easy-to-read, bit before having to deal with unfamiliar names and dates. So, for example, I tell a story about a hypothetical Super Bowl game to preface the section on Greeks and Persians. When I sent the draft out to teenagers to read, they did, in fact, particularly like those sections. But I also made another major decision: I realized that I had to put myself into the book. I realized that race and racism are too close to the bone for me to speak as a distant lecturer. So I allowed myself to enter the story—to speak about my prejudices, about my family's experiences, to reveal my own feelings. I hope that that directness will appeal to teenagers and will encourage them to take similar risks in their own nonfiction writing. Race is a topic that lends itself to illustrations, and I found many strong images. I hope that even readers daunted by the length of the book will browse through it and see, in the images of how we have depicted ourselves and others, a hint of the themes of the book.
Q: What type of research did you do in order to write this book? Do you enjoy the research or the writing process more?
A: I love doing research; I could do it all day, every day. First I looked for the best academic studies on race and racism. Then, where possible, I e-mailed, phoned, or went to meet the experts who wrote those books.
Those books and interviews led me to ever more specialized studies. At the same time, I needed a strong historical spine, so I read one general world history and, again, dipped into the specialized histories of each era. Can I tell you a secret? Someday I do want to write the history of the world, the whole world, covering all time. I crave knowing every step, every detail of that span. I often feel like an engineer, I want to build a bridge from one period I know to another, past to present, and I can only do that by making sure each inch is solid and true—that I know and can explain what happened in one place and time, why that changed, and how that influenced what followed. This book was, in a sense, a trial run for that immense project. I just want to know what we stand on and how we came to be—I want to feel that I can connect the dots, that I really know. Research is what allows me to do that. Writing is a different challenge—and here Ginee, and my wife, the author Marina Budhos, and the many teenagers, librarians, authors, and academics who read drafts of the book helped me immensely. Writing is creation, it is storytelling, it is taking that wealth of information and giving it a form that reaches out to readers, that hooks them, challenges them, inspires them, engages them. That is hard for me, but extremely rewarding when I get it right. Research, you might say, is knowing. Writing is creating.
Q: What do you hope readers will glean from Race? Did the message of the book change over the course of your writing?
A: The most basic message of Race is this: Human beings feel prejudice, they always have and always will. Mouthing the right words about “race is only skin deep” does nothing to restrain the dark strands we have inside us. But recognizing what a powerful hold prejudice has on us can help. We can stop ourselves, we can recognize when our perceptions are being warped. We can pause, question ourselves, and learn to do better. We need to recognize the power of the enemy we carry inside ourselves, that is our best chance to live together as one human race.
Q: At what age did you know you wanted to study history? What advice do you have for students who want to pursue a similar career path?
A: The first book I ever read all the way through was a biography of George Washington. I have loved history since that summer after first grade. As a senior in high school I read a book by Norman Cantor about the Middle Ages, and had the good fortune to study with him as both an undergrad and grad student. I was hooked.
Advice: Historians need two things to start off with: curiosity and questions. As you read history, listen to your own interests and uncertainties—ask, ask, ask. At the same time, start to piece together what you know. How does one era, or person, link with another, start to lay out the braid, the strand, in your mind. We are at a great moment for history just now. American historians are starting to knit American history into world history, and that is yielding fresh insights every day. History is not dead and done, it is alive as the world we live in, and you have the chance to shape the new history that is being researched and written RIGHT NOW. Come join us, we need your questions and your passions.
Q: Both when you were a teenager and now, what authors influence and inspire you most?
A: I remember liking Gods, Graves, and Scholars by C. W. Ceram, and, as I said, Norman Cantor; in fiction, of course, Hesse, Tolkien, I tried John Barth but I think mainly to seem cool, I liked Lorca, whose poetry we read in Spanish class—his surrealism and intensity; Bob Dylan, if you count him as a poet; most recently I thought Adam Hochschild's Bury the Chains was wonderful both as history and as narrative.
Q: What are you working on next?
A: Unsettled, a book about Israel—most of my family has lived there since the 1920s; I have been there often. I love the country and could never live there. I decided to write a book for teenagers in which I wrestle with the whole question of Israel. It takes off from the personal approach of Race and pushes it ever further. The book is due to come out next year, in time for Israel's sixtieth birthday.
Contributor: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing
For additional information about Marc Aronbson, visit his web site www.marcaronson.com
Reviews
Ain’t Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry
Scott Reynolds Nelson with Marc Aronson
In this fascinating book, Scott Reynolds Nelson tells readers how, as a child, he first became interested in unraveling the stories behind historical artifacts and determining the difference between fact and fiction. Nelson describes how he started to do research to discover whether or not railroad man John Henry was based on fact or folklore. He takes the reader through the years of research detailing how he followed the threads of obscure clues until he came to the conclusion that Henry was indeed a real man. Along the way, readers are treated to fascinating facts about the building of America's railroads and about the men who built them. The book is liberally illustrated with photographs and drawings depicting the building of railroads. Primary source documents and song lyrics add to the book's value. Reading this book will spark an interest in railroads and historical research. Marc Aronson outlines steps young historians should take if they wish to follow the clues and solve historical mysteries themselves. This book would be useful as an introduction to historical research or in a unit on African Americans. Recommended. 2008, National Geographic Society, 64pp., $18.95 hc. Ages 9 to 14. Reviewer: Ann M.G. Gray (Library Media Connection, January 2008).
ISBN: 9781426300004
ISBN: 9781426300011
For Boys Only: The Biggest, Baddest Book Ever
Marc Aronson
In the style of Dangerous Book for Boys, Newquist and Sibert Medal winner Aronson have brought together a collection of curiosities, wonders, recreation, and miscellany sure to match at least some of the interests of its intended audience--BOYS. From topics such as “Fear Factor: American's Scariest Amusement Park Rides” to “The Two Most Horrifying, Hideous, and Disgusting Creatures in the World” to “Things to Remember Your Whole Life,” readers indulge their curiosities and gather tidbits and tricks to share with friends. Rating: Excellent. Reading Level: Primary; Intermediate. Category: Informational books. 2007, Feiwel and Friends, 157 p., $14.95. © 2002, Brigham Young University. Reviewer: Marsha D. Broadway (Childrens Book and Play Review, March/April 2008 (Vol. 28, No. 4)).
ISBN: 9780312377069
ISBN: 0312377061
If Stones Could Speak: Unlocking the Secrets of Stonehenge
Marc Aronson
Working with chief archaeologist of the Riverside Project, Mike Parker Pearson, the author discusses the often-serendipitous nature of scientific discovery. This book does not deal with questions about how Stonehenge was built, but rather with understanding why it was built. The conventional wisdom—that it served as a temple—was turned on its head when an archaeologist from Madagascar was brought in to look at the site, and he suggested that it was a place to honor and assist the transit of the dead. Having studied a similar culture on Madagascar where the people built magnificent edifices of stone for the dead while living in humble wooden structures, Ramilisonina caused archaeologists to look at Stonehenge—and its surroundings—in a totally new way, leading to monumental discoveries of adjacent sites that fit with this new theory. The science of archaeology has advanced greatly in the last couple of decades and some of the earlier data that had been puzzling those studying Stonehenge turned out to be miscalculations by earlier scientists. Wonderful photographs of people as well as places, and abundant supplementary information in the form of chronologies, brief biographies of relevant archaeologists, and suggestions for further reading and research are plusses here. But perhaps the book’s most unique contribution are these ideas: science often advances by stops and starts; new knowledge is often as much the result of imagination and inspiration as hard detailed fact gathering; and there is always something new to learn. 2010, National Geographic Society, Ages 7 to 14, $17.95. Reviewer: Paula McMillen, Ph.D. (Children’s Literature).
ISBN: 9781426305993
ISBN: 9781426306006
Race: A History Beyond Black and White
Marc Aronson
The book traces the idea of race from the ancient world up to modern times. The premise being that race as we know it today is a recent development. Starting with the idea that prejudice is in the mind; coming from the days when survival depended on making an instantaneous decision on if another human were friend or foe, the book states that in ancient times people were judged more on where they came from geographically and their economic and social status vs. their race. A few chapters focus on religion and how the thought of being chosen or holy came to affect our view of another other. The middle chapters are devoted to the role that science has played in development of race; needs of classifying items based on certain characteristics giving rise to the idea of race, but even then, race was not so clearly defined. Seven chapters after this are spent discussing views of race during different time periods. These chapters cover such subjects as Irish and Italians not being considered white, Jews and Catholics “whiteness” being once debated by Congress, Jews considered to be their own race of people and the treatment of blacks during the latter part of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The last few chapters are devoted to ideas on race in the modern world covering topics such as the spectrum within our classifications of white, black, Asian and Indian that may give no meaning to race and the idea that a person can “act white/black”. This is an excellent springboard book to use in a social studies or ethics class. Its focus on the developing history and perception of races and prejudice make it more thought provoking than material that focuses only on race as we think of it today. Unfortunately, the subject matter of race in modern times is only briefly touched upon and discussed. The book moves very quickly though history of the conflict between white and black of this century and in the last chapter is filled with more opinion from the author and less fact than in previous chapters. In the final chapter there is hardly and mention at all of Latin peoples. This gives it less relevancy in discussions and debates about race today, but the book is an excellent tool to stimulate discussion about race in the past and its evolution in the future. 2007, Atheneum Books for Young Readers/Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division, Ages 12 up, $18.99. Reviewer: Patrick Hunter (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-689-86554-1
The Real Revolution: The Global Story of American Independence
Marc Aronson
The more things change, the more they stay the same. While relishing the sheer physical beauty of Aronson's refreshing take on the American Revolution, one cannot help but be cognizant of the similarities to the global shenanigans of the twenty-first century. Aronson broadens the conventional view of the stirrings of revolt by the colonists with his carefully researched "transnational" theory of history. Treachery against the Native Americans, wrangling in India over control of the East India Company, the reality of slaveholders chafing at the increasingly tight reins of England, wealthy men on the verge of financial ruin who try to cut their losses at the expense of their stockholders, civil disobedience that escalates as the colonists realize independence is not a choice, but a necessity-Aronson brings it all into rich colorful play here. This book provides provocative fodder for classroom discussion, from the notion that the Founding Fathers were able to imagine a free America because their slaves gave them the freedom of time for extended contemplation to the dozens of intricate political cartoons, loaded with symbolism that Aronson explains in detail to the pure, clean, razor-sharp logic of Thomas Paine's timeless document, Common Sense. History was never so much fun. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2005, Clarion, 238p.; Index. Illus. Photos. Maps. Biblio. Source Notes. Chronology., $21. Ages 11 to 18. Reviewer: Beth E. Andersen (VOYA, April 2006 (Vol. 29, No. 1)).
ISBN: 9780618181797
ISBN: 0618181792
Unsettled: The Problem of Loving Israel
Marc Aronson
As an American Jew with family whom he often visits in Israel, Aronson writes a history of the country to provide young adults or older readers a unique perspective and personal insights into the “unsettling” relationship in this part of the Middle East. Beginning with the Foreword, he draws parallels between the histories of the United States and Israel. Using “you” and “I” to personalize his writing, he knits together the country's complicated history by answering the question, “Why does everyone hate Israel?” In doing so, he asks many more questions than he answers as he leads the reader to an understanding of the complexity of Middle Eastern events and why they are so. Aronson's writing is brilliant. Often using events more familiar to the U.S. reader than those half a world away, he pulls isolated facts and information together under an umbrella that makes a summary point. For example, he concludes that Jewish migration illustrates “a fundamental difference between Israeli Jews and American Jews.” The former “find strength by being in their own nation” and the latter by competing “as equals with everyone else” in a country with a wide mix of other nationalities. Aronson is a humanist who is clearly saddened by the jingoism of the people of any country and by intolerance of others. He creates a well-resourced and well-referenced book that could serve as a core title for a history class; it not only fits high school curriculum, but it is also readable and offers material for meaty discussions. No school or public library should be without a copy in its collection. 2008, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster, $18.99. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Mary Bowman-Kruhm, Ed.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781416912613
ISBN: 1416912614
War Is: Soldiers, Survivors, and Storytellers Talk about War
Marc Aronson and Patty Campbell
Twenty selections divided into four sections speak eloquently to war’s destruction and inevitability. Campbell’s choices reflect her “passionate revulsion” for war. Aronson demonstrates his commitment to listening to those who served in battle, covered war, or grew up in military families. The first section, Deciding About War, includes Bob Dylan’s song “Masters of War” and Mark Twain’s less familiar pacifist story, The War Prayer. Other pieces address the influence of war heroes, dishonest recruitment, the reality of first combat, and religious conviction. Next, Experiencing War spans World War I to Iraq and considers positive perceptions, transforming encounters, ridiculous emotional expectations, horrifying results, and the special challenges of the modern female soldier. The Aftermath of War includes two fictional pieces. Rita Williams-Garcia’s one-act play presents a female soldier suffering post-traumatic stress. Margo Lanagan’s haunting short story, Heads, describes a post-apocalyptic world. Further Reading suggests equally thought-provoking and high-quality selections in anthologies, fiction, and nonfiction that address ancient to modern conflicts. Teens from divergent social classes and varied academic backgrounds will be drawn to this gripping read that embraces wide experiences and often conflicting perceptions. For librarians, it is a centerpiece for war displays or presentations. For social studies and English teachers, it is the unifying element of any war unit. In cross-generational book groups, it provides an endless source of discussion. 2008, Candlewick, 208p.; Source Notes. Further Reading., $17.99. Ages 11 to Adult. Reviewer: Lucy Schall (VOYA, February 2009 (Vol. 31, No. 6)).
ISBN: 9780763636258
To read our interview with Marc Aronson, click here.
Updated 09/07/10
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