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On the Web Wed Oct 28 2009
Dave Eggers on The Wild Things, an Excerpt & a Review
Over at the Guardian, Dave Eggers talks about novelizing a children's classic, how his version of The Wild Things diverges from the film adaptation and his love for Maurice Sendak:
So the book, I thought, would be a place where I could explore these and other ideas, and where I could bend the story toward my own interests a bit (the movie is much more Spike's than mine). Along the way the novel diverged significantly from the movie, and from Maurice's book, but all three share a basic outline - boy is confused about a home and world out of control, boy acts out, boy leaves home and becomes king of a herd of sentient beasts. And all three benefit from the pure, uncompromised vision of childhood that Maurice Sendak espoused and put on paper, again and again, in a stunning body of work that becomes more impressive and singular with every passing decade. He is the greatest living writer and illustrator of books for or about children, period, bar none, end of discussion. He also has a dog named Herman.
Continue reading the article for an excerpt from Eggers's novel and go here for the Guardian's analytical and thought-provoking review of the book.
