UNCLE TUMBA is Here! + WSJ Response + L Mag Review + Žižek + YA Visions + BMC in Arabic?

Readers of Teen Angst? Naaah... may recall the essay "Forced March," about my college application process, in which I tried to sell a comic called Uncle Tumba to my Harvard interviewers. Uncle Tumba was a fully independent high school effort undertaken by me and illustrator Adam Pare; the hero was based on "Uncle Tompa, The Legendary Rascal of Tibet":


Uncle Tompa (13th Century)

Uncle Tumba (1998-1999)

Adam and I made three issues and a final "Reject Issue" that paired art Adam couldn't use with my rejected stories from New York Press. (The two full stories in the Reject Issue later appeared in Teen Angst? Naaah....) Now, after more than 12 years, Uncle Tumba is availble at my Etsy store.

Each issue is $3. Each issue is signed by me (automatically) and personalized (by request). Quantities are limited so act now. PARENTAL ADVISORY: Uncle Tumba is pretty dirty. But our cat loves them:






"LA Review of Books Blog: Rock and Roll (Ned Vizzini)"

Watching the Wall Street Journal condemn YA literature and spawn a Twitter movement last week sure was fun. But even more fun was getting to respond to it in a short piece for the LA Review of Books.
"Straight Edge, Winding Story: Ten Thousand Saints | Books | The L Magazine - New York City's Local Event and Arts & Culture Guide"

My latest book review:


"YouTube - Living in the End Times According to Slavoj Zizek"



I was introduced to Žižek via his concise views on vegetarianism. He's an insightful Slovenian philosopher with the best accent this side of Werner Herzog. Ken Baumann sent me this video where Žižek explains (among many other things) the relationship between image and reality today. He expresses a sentiment almost identical to what Andy Warhol said about his own image:

"If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it." [more]

People still reference Warhol's "15 minutes of fame" quote but he was over that almost before he said it. His lesser-known pronouncements are increasingly relevant to the internet age. Dream panel:


IKOAFS Interview on YA Visions

David Eng, who interviewed me for the New Jersey-based cable show YA Visions back in 2005, sat down with me again to discuss the It's Kind of a Funny Story book-to-film process. The result is this interview. (Search for "vizzini" and click "YA Visions: Show 37;" the segment starts around 12:50.) Thank you David!

Today's Reader Email

Today's reader mail comes from Saad Eddine Skakri in Kenitra, Morocco.

Hello
i just wondered when i was exploring your site : why there isn't an ARABIC copy "translation" of Be More Chill, There is even a Hebrew one !!


Saad Eddine, there is indeed a Hebrew translation of Be More Chill and no Arabic version. The reason is that each time a book gets translated into another language, it needs a new publisher. The new publisher has to translate it, package it, print it, and market it.

That takes time and money -- and many book markets are surprisingly small. A publisher will only take on a foreign-language book if they're certain that they'll be able to sell a few thousand copies. Many American books don't sell a few thousand copies even in America!

So for Be More Chill to get translated into Arabic, an Arabic publisher would need to be sold on the idea. If you know any Arabic publishers, please get them in touch with my literary representation (contact info here) and tell them that you can personally guarantee that the book will sell thousand of copies... and maybe they'll listen.

Until then you might have to learn Hebrew -- although your English looks good too.