It was decided today by the McSweeney's brain trust that we will in the near future begin publishing new books, and reissuing old ones, in small print runs, provided we soon run into a great deal of untethered money. The first book we will be reissuing, assuming we are granted copyright permission by the author's estate, is Rats, Lice and History, written by Hans Zinsser and first published in 1934. Its full title is this: Rats, Lice and History: Being a Study in Biography, Which, After Twelve Preliminary Chapters Indispensable for the Preparation of the Lay Reader, Deals With the Life History of Typhus Fever. It is perhaps the greatest book ever written about this subject that actually doesn't discuss this subject all that much.
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It was recently pointed out that someone has already made an all-black version of The Wizard of Oz, and that the movie, released in America sometime in the 1970s--my source says it originated in France--was called The Wiz. Though this seems preposterous, I must ask if anyone in Slateland has heard of such a thing. If you have any information, please post it in "The Fray" below, alongside the many warm and thoughtful comments already offered by the site's wonderfully no-nonsense (and why shouldn't they be, in these wintry economic times?) readers.
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These "Diary" entries are supposed to be 800 words only, but it's really essential here that we print a fairly extensive excerpt from Zinsser's first chapter. If you are uninterested, you may skip over it. But you should not be uninterested, especially if you remember that a) Zinsser is a genius and b) this passage appears in a book titled Rats, Lice and History.
So:
Rats, Lice And History By Hans Zinsser
Chapter I: In the nature of an explanation and an apology
This book, if it is ever written, and--if written--it finds a publisher, and--if published--anyone reads it, will be recognized with some difficulty as a biography. We are living in an age of biography. We can no longer say with Carlyle that a well-written life is as rare as a well-spent one. Our bookstalls are filled with stories of the great and near-great of all ages, and each month's publishers' lists announce a new crop. The biographical form of writing has largely displaced the novel, it has poached upon the territory that was once spoken of as criticism, it has gone into successful competition with the detective story and the erotic memoir, and it has even entered the realm of the psychopathic clinic. One wonders what has released the deluge.
There are many possible answers. It is not unlikely that, together with other phases of modern life, literature has gone "scientific." As in science, a few men of originality work out the formulas for discovery in a chosen subject, and a mass of followers apply this formula to analogous problems and achieve profitable results. In an age of meagre literary originality, it is a natural impulse for workers to endeavor to explain the genius of great masters. And for every novelist, poet, or inventor of any kind, we have a dozen interpreters, commentators, and critics.
Once biography was a serious business and the task of the scholar. When Plutarch wrote his Parallel Lives, his mind--as Mr. Clough rightly remarks--was running on the Aristotelian ethics and the Platonic theories which formed the religion of the educated men of his time. He dealt less with action, more with motives and the reaction of ability and character upon the circumstances of the great civilizations of Greece and of Rome. Scholarly biographies of later ages followed similar methods, even in such intensely personal records as Boswell's Johnson, or the Conversations by which so dull an ass as Eckermann managed to write himself into permanent fame. The minor details of intimate life were, in the past, regarded as having consequence only as they had bearing on the states of mind that led to high achievement. It was recognized that "les petitesses de la vie privée peuvent s'allier avec Pheroïsme de la vue publique." But they were utilized only when they were significant or amusing. But all this has changed. The new school sees the key to personality in the petitesses. Biography has become neurosis-conscious. Freud is a great man. But it is dangerous when a great man is too easily half-understood. The Freudian high explosives have been worked into firecrackers for the simple to burn their fingers. It has become too easy to make a noise and a bad smell with materials compounded by the great discoverer for the blasting of tunnels. Biography is obviously the best playground for the dilettante of psychoanalysis. ... Great men are being reappraised by their endocrine balances rather than by their performances. Poor Shelley! Poor Byron! Poor Wafner! Poor Chopin! Poor Heine! Poor Mark Twain! Poor Henry James! Poor Melville! Poor Dostoyevsky! Poor Tolstoy! And even poor Jesus!
Look for the McSweeney's reissue of this classic, in its entirety, sometime in the summer of 2000. If you cannot wait for our edition, copies of the original surely abound. It was originally published for the Atlantic Monthly Press by Little, Brown and Company, and can now probably be found and purchased through sellers of fine typhus-related books in your city and worldwide.
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Confession: Due to budget cutbacks and constraints of time, many of the dates, numbers and names in previous Diary entries were published before they could be confirmed or corrected. Here we will set things straight:
- In Monday's entry, at 7:12 p.m. we listed the following names: "Louis Prima. Clark Gable. Maude Adams." The passage should have read "Louis Prima. Peter Lorre. Barbara Bel Geddes." Sorry.
- In Tuesday's entry, Ty Cobb's numbers should have read as follows: 45, 3, 66, 9, 83, 982, 4, 34, 1611, as opposed to 45, 3, 67, 9, 83, 892, 4, 34, 1611. Again, sorry.
- Wednesday's entry was supposed to be longer, and should have appeared on Tuesday.
- Tuesday's entry, which was originally slated for Monday, was to include a long discussion of whether or not dogs care if they are being petted with one's hand or one's foot, including much relevant research on either side of this (still relevant) debate.
- Both Monday's and Tuesday's entries were to include coherent and digestible remarks about issues of national interest, blended seamlessly into and applicable to the narrative of the diarist's uneventful day.
Sorry about all this.
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Rumor has it that Denice Williams, of "Let's Hear It for the Boy" renown, played the black Dorothy in this so-called The Wiz. Great casting if it were true, but I'm not buying it--seems unlikely in a French production. But I could be wrong. Again, any information on this would be most appreciated.
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Highlights from the Fray (note: these highlights should be read after the final Diary entry):
See the Grenada flag here.
--Flaggist
(To reply, click here.)
1. Just a small comment re: The Wiz--Michael Jackson is in it pre-plastic surgery! You might not recognize him. Also, his dancing is rather more conventional than we're used to seeing in more recent years.
2. If there's a serious possibility of publishing some classic children's books, I have one to suggest: The Bears' Famous Invasion of Sicily, by Dino Buzzati. This one was originally published in (as I recall) 1947, in several different languages (original Italian, and definitely in French and English). I think the publisher was Pantheon Press. It is a delightful (probably not PC nowadays, however) story, with wonderful illustrations. It is also extremely hard to find a copy for sale, unfortunately. You should try to find a copy, read it, and find out who has the rights now. I should mention that Dino Buzzati is regarded by some as a sort of Italian equivalent of Kafka. There are a couple of collections of his writings available, translated in the last twenty years. The one I've read is titled The Siren, and it's good.
--Mark H. Nelson
(To reply, click here.)
The Wiz was a commercial as well as critical flop for one very good reason--the hideous miscasting of a certain leathery, over-the-hill egomaniacal dinosaur in the role of an apple-cheeked, doe-eyed teenage ingenue. Not since Lucy rendered "Mame" lame through a half-gallon wad of Vaseline and a burlap filter has a part been so terribly miscast in appeasement of a monstrous ego run amuck. Well, there is also Babs in Yentl, but that's a whole other institutional use sized can of non-pareve worms.
Yes, Michael Jackson would have been the logical choice, but remember that he was still black way back then. Perhaps that is why so many people complain they cannot locate a copy--maybe it is true that he really does buy up or suppress all available P.W.E.* images of himself. (*Pre-White Era)
I digress. Frequently and at length. So, back to The Wiz--the role of Dorothy was originated on Broadway by Stephanie Mills. I believe she started her run when she was about 15 and played it for about 8 years, but when it came time to make a movie, guess who was in tight (no pun intended) with Berry Gordy? It is said that they rewrote the part of Dorothy to be something a little easier and more believable for that battle ax Diana Ross to pass herself off as--a thirty-something dried-up spinster schoolmarm living at home with her parents.
The Wiz also begat one of Stephanie Mills most loved songs--her "Over the Rainbow," as it were--the beautiful anthem, "Home." I still get goose-pimply whenever I hear her sing it. I get sharp pains akin to needles piercing my skull even thinking of how badly The Boss' attempted appropriation of it sounded.
Useless Wiz factoids--both the original roadway show as well as the movie featured the recently late, great Mabel King (she died last week) as the Wicked Witch of the West throwin' down in the sweat shop to the gospel inflected strains of "No Bad News." Mabel King may perhaps be better known (but I doubt it) from the late seventies, early eighties blaxploitation sitcoms, What's Happenin' and That's My Mama.
To save some folks the time of writing in to tell us who else they remembered was in it, the principal cast was: Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Lena Horne, Richard Pryor, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, Mabel King, Theresa Merritt, Roberta Flack, Cissy Houston, Gwen Guthrie, and Luther Vandross.
--Mr. Too Much Information
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The Broadway original cast recording is wonderful. Fabulous music, fabulous talent. "Ease on Down the Road, Home, Don't Bring Me No Bad News," much more. Also: "Be A Lion"!!! It's the kind of song you can sing along with at full volume and feel great the rest of the day. Love it. Run right out now and get a copy of it, you'll love it. Excuse me now, I gotta go find my copy. (Do not try to substitute the movie soundtrack!)
--lkoon
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Rats, Lice and History--the 1984 Little, Brown paperback reprint (which is little, and red, and has ISBN number 0316988960)--stands at number 102,547 in Amazon.com's sales ranking.
It may or may not be of interest to note that David Eggers' A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius: Based on a True Story--the year 2000 Simon and Schuster hardcover (which is bigger, multicolored, and has ISBN number 0684863472)--stands at number 1,117,559 in Amazon.com's sales ranking. (Buy it here.) But then again, it hasn't been published yet, so it can hardly be a bestseller.
It is probably worth noting that while Eggers' tome does not appear on the list of books also bought by purchasers of Rats, Lice and History, three of the four books so cited also have colons in their titles. For your edification, the full list follows:
Man and Microbes: Disease and Plagues in History and
Modern Times; Arno Karlen
Armies of Pestilence: The Effects of Pandemics on
History; R. S. Bray
Plagues and Peoples; William H. McNeill
More Cunning Than Man: A Social History of Rats and Man;
Robert Hendrickson
P.S. The Wiz was written by Joel Schumaker--who directed Batman & Robin, probably one of the worst films ever made. Oh, and the first assistant director was the gloriously-spelled Burtt Harris, who is not much better known for playing Ptl. Ricci in the classic heist film, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.
--Felix Salmon
(To reply, click here.)
The music to The Wiz was all-original and the songs were in a gospel/R&B/Soul kind of style. I can still sing some of the lyrics to the Tin Man's song, "Slide Some Oil to Me":
Slide some oil to me
Let it slip down my spine
If you don't have STP,
Crisco will be just fine
Slip some to my elbows
and my fingers if you would
Slide some oil to me, girl
Oooh does that feel good!
My apologies to the original composer if I messed that up!
--Denise
(To reply, click here.)
Obviously Mr. Eggers is referring to the French remake of The Wiz--which, oddly, predated its inspiration by a decade.
The French title Le Wiz des Plais un Buffalo translates to The Wizard of Upstate New York. It starred Gerard Depardieu, M. Emmett Walsh and porn star Ciccolina, and concerned the search not for a way home, but for an underwater tunnel to England.
Critics were most unkind. The movie did spawn a single top 40 hit, a duet between Astrud Gilberto and Leonard Cohen titled "Refreshments."
--Nehru Schwartz
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yo. the wiz is a phat movie. young michael jackson, diana ross, others star. not a french production. check it out. got that '70s orange and brown and glitter motif working. movie was extra expensive, and a huge flop at the box office. but its still cool as hell, for the stars and the time period it reflects.
--a
[Fraymaster note: Computer host--antioch college.edu]
(To reply, click here.)
For those who can't wait for the reissue of Rats Lice and History may be able to find a copy of the Bantam paperback at their local used bookstore. For instance, here in New York City, I saw one at the Strand a few weeks ago. And while Eggers has tantalized with the opening parry from the book, a reader shouldn't worry that the book falls off after the brilliant intro. Consider Chapter VIII which begins, "If it were not for the fact that so many utterly uninterested people die of disease or are killed in them, wars would not be taken so seriously." It includes the following pithy insight: "In 1708, the Swedes, having their own way in Southern Russia, completely lost the fruits of their hard-fought battles and were rendered helpless by an outbreak of plague."
--diana silver
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Don't know much about the play, but my daughter has the 331/3 record of the orginal show. If interested you can reach her at . I am sure she will make you a tape copy, if requested.
--John Snape
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The all-black version of The Wizard of Oz was called The Wizard of Space and Time and starred Mike Jittlov as the Wizard, over the protests of the NAACP, who complained that Mr. Jittlov was not actually black. There were substantial protests by some movie directors back in the mid-1980s when Ted Turner purchased the television rights and "colorized" the movie for viewing on WGN.
"The Wiz" is actually an electronics store in Manhattan; its chief competition is "Crazy Larry's," which was started by Clint Eastwood and named after Detective Larry Callaghan, the character he played in the 1974 movie Dirty Harry Crazy Larry. Perhaps the movie-related names of these Manhattan electronics stores is what is causing the confusion in the Fray.
Hope this helps,
--Ted Frank
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Puh-leeze, people! It's obvious that you and Dave Eggers are talking about two completely different movies. I think what's throwing you off is his use of the term "all-black," which is filmmaker's jargon for "black and white." There was, indeed, a French version of the "Wizard" story, made by the great director Jean-Luc Ponty. As was his style, it was filmed all in black-and-white--unlike the "Wizard" we know, which turns to color in the middle. It was made in '64, but not released here until '75 or so, due to some censorship difficulties (the "Munchkins" in Ponty's version apparently uttered some profanities).
The film actually bears faint resemblance to the original L. Frank Baum novel: Ponty conceived of it more as a parable for imperialism (the characters fulfilling their wishes through "conquering" the idyllic land of Oz; the tornado is supposed to represent the chaos of the body politic, though I think the symbolism is a bit silly).
Anyway ... totally different flick from the Diana Ross Wiz. Just thought I'd try to straighten things out.
--Rupe Pupkin
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Many of you seem to be confusing the African-American version of The Wizard of Oz (The Wiz) with the multiracial French version (Les Wis). The latter starred Surya Bonaly as Dorothy, Celene Dion as the Wicked Witch of the West, Jean Reno as the Wizard and Gerard Depardieu as the Cowardly Lion. This should clear up any misunderstanding.
--Jim
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(12/20)