Pulitzer-Winning Holocaust Book Maus Makes Amazon Bestseller List After Tenn. School Board Ban
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Maus — a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust — became an Amazon best seller after getting banned by a Tennessee county school board.
Editions of the book debuted at No. 12 and No. 9 following Tennessee's McMinn County School Board vote to remove the book from its curriculum on Jan. 10. Members unanimously agreed its material was not appropriate for students, with the board citing illustrations of nudity and "rough, objectionable language."
The Associated Press reported that as of Friday evening, Maus could not be delivered until the middle of February, presumably because of the new demand. According to the news outlet, The Complete Maus, which includes a second volume, was out of stock at the time.
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Maus follows 73-year-old illustrator and author Art Spiegelman as he retells the story of his Polish parents' experience during the Holocaust, while portraying Jewish people as mice and Nazis as cats.
In an email to CNBC, Spiegelman reacted to the overwhelming support for the book in recent days and compared the school board to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The schoolboard could've checked with their book-banning predecessor, [Russia President] Vladimir Putin: he made the Russian edition of Maus illegal in 2015 (also with good intentions—banning swastikas) and the small publisher sold out immediately and has had to reprint repeatedly," wrote Spiegelman. "I'm heartened by reader responses, and the local responses you mentioned."
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Amazon buyers are not the only ones showing support for the book. Professor Scott Denham at Davidson College in North Carolina is offering eighth grade and high school students a free online course on the book in response to the board's decision.
"In response to Spiegelman's Maus I and Maus II being removed from the schools by McMinn County, Tennessee, school board members, I am offering this free on-line course for any McMinn County eighth-grade or high school students interested in reading these books with me. I have taught Spiegelman's books many times in my courses on the Holocaust over many years," Denham wrote on a site where students can register for the course.
The first volume of Maus was published in 1986 and Spiegelman won a Pulitzer Prize in 1992, a year after the publication of its second volume.
