Helen Maryles Shankman

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Born
in Chicago, Illinois, The United States
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Nathan Englander, Michael Chabon, Stephen King, Flannery O'Connor, Cha ...more

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June 2009

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Originally, when I moved to New York to attend art school, I thought I wanted to be an illustrator, to tell stories with paint. A few years later, I discovered that what I really wanted to do was paint with words.

Helen Maryles Shankman lived in Chicago before moving to New York City to attend art school. She is the author of In the Land of Armadillos, a collection of linked stories illuminated with magical realism, published by Scrbner, following the inhabitants of a small town in 1942 Poland and tracing the troubling complex choices they are compelled to make. The paperback reprint, titled They Were Like Family to Me, is now available at bookstores everywhere.

Her stories have appeared in numerous fine publications, including The Kenyon Re
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Popular Answered Questions

Helen Maryles Shankman I haven't read it! The only Blatty novel I've read is "The Exorcist." Which was so scary, I left it downstairs in another room at night.…moreI haven't read it! The only Blatty novel I've read is "The Exorcist." Which was so scary, I left it downstairs in another room at night.(less)
Helen Maryles Shankman Hi Roger,

Thank you for your kind words! You know, I've seen so many of those terrible Einsatzgruppen photographs that I am sure I saw it somewhere, to…more
Hi Roger,

Thank you for your kind words! You know, I've seen so many of those terrible Einsatzgruppen photographs that I am sure I saw it somewhere, too. I remember the stance of the shooter so clearly. But I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly what book or what exhibit I found it in--and I can't bear going through my books to look for it.

About the opera "The White Rose"--that's so interesting! Where did you direct it?(less)
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More books by Helen Maryles Shankman…

7 books about the Holocaust scholars say you should read

Honored to find They Were Like Family to Me included in this powerful list of books on this Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Recent releases provide valuable lessons ahead of Yom Hashoah, Israel’s national commemoration for victims of Hitler’s Jewish genocide

JTA — From Anne Frank’s diary to Elie Wiesel’s “Night,” books about the Holocaust remain some of the most powerful and well-known pieces of literatu Read more of this blog post »
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Helen’s Recent Updates

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Shabbat by Adeena Sussman
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Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
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Beloved by Toni Morrison
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Helen liked an answer from Neil Gaiman:
Neil Gaiman
My grandfather -- my father's father -- and my great grandfather, his father, are both mysteries to me: why did my great grandfather leave Poland? Why did he leave Antwerp (and had he stolen a diamond?) and why did they return to Antwerp in 1919? Why See Neil’s answer.
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Eitan Eats the World by Eitan Bernath
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I love this cookbook! It’s like a culinary trip around the world! One of my favorite things about it is that Eitan suggests options to make most of his dishes vegan or kosher. The recipes sound awesome, the food photography is gorgeous, and it’s a gr ...more
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Heartland by Sarah Smarsh
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Helen is now following Caitlin and Tracy Zita
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How to Fight Anti-Semitism by Bari Weiss
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Unfortunately, I agree with everything Bari Weiss says in this book. I've felt this vague, creeping uneasiness stealing over me since 2014, the feeling that our brief, glorious post-Holocaust-era, a period of time when antisemitism was considered unc ...more
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Quotes by Helen Maryles Shankman  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“When your heart breaks, you can actually feel it, an agonizing stab of pain in a muscle that you know for a fact is just a glorified pump. Wherever you are, whatever you are doing, the ordered universe changes, the solid ground beneath your feet becomes a slippery rock. The material world that seemed so safe and solid a moment ago becomes a shifting, ghostly place of shadows and mist. Matters that seemed settled and certain a long ago come suddenly unhinged, and you begin to doubt everything you ever knew to be true.”
Helen Maryles Shankman

“You should have noticed by now, sometimes a monster looks just like any other man.”
Helen Maryles Shankman, In the Land of Armadillos: Stories

“There’s no such thing as yesterday, he thought dully. Memory is just today, happening over and over again, stamped indelibly with regret.”
Helen Maryles Shankman

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“On sorrow floats laughter.”
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“I am a camera, with its shutter open. Someday, all of this will be developed, printed, fixed.”
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“If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.”
George Bernard Shaw, Immaturity

“A writer is someone who has taught his mind to misbehave.”
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“Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.”
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Sketchbook Congrats on being a prize finalist!.


message 11: by Helen

Helen Dolors wrote: "Honored (and thrilled!) to be your friend, Hellen. Thanks for sending a request. Best wishes from Barcelona! :)"

Thank you for accepting, Dolors! I've been reading your moving and lyrical comments and reviews for so long, I can't believe we haven't been friends for all these years!


message 10: by Dolors

Dolors Honored (and thrilled!) to be your friend, Hellen. Thanks for sending a request. Best wishes from Barcelona! :)


message 9: by Helen

Helen Oh, that's so nice! Thank you, Kris! I look forward to it too!


message 8: by Kris

Kris Helen, thank you so much for the friend request! I'm delighted to accept it, and look forward to many good discussions with you, including in the Buddenbrooks group. :)


message 7: by Helen

Helen Jessica--just to be perfectly clear---you use Garamond for manuscripts that you send to your editors and publishers?


message 6: by Helen

Helen No. Just for the usual stuff, words in foreign languages, or for emphasis.


Jessica you're not using italic for the whole ms., are you? that wouldn't be good.


message 4: by Helen

Helen Really? It would be great if I didn't have to change it. Thanks for the note, Jessica. Big help.


message 3: by Jessica (last edited Aug 19, 2011 09:33AM)

Jessica Helen, I couldn't help seeing your comments on my feed about Times New Roman vs. Garamond... I wouldn't think it matters. Garamond is a much nicer typeface and isn't so wildly different from standard Times. I'm one for visual effect...there's an elegance to Garamond. My 2c. (unasked for, I know!)


message 2: by Helen

Helen Sketchbook wrote: "Great comment by you to Paul on the 'secret institution.'"

Thanks! I actually thought he was quoting from a book he was writing!


Sketchbook Great comment by you to Paul on the 'secret institution.'


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