by Francine Prose (Author)

"A deeply felt reappraisal
of the work and its global impact.... [Prose] makes a persuasive argument for
Anne Frank's literary genius." --New York
Times Book Review

In June, 1942, Anne Frank
received a diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her
family went into hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. For two years,
she described life in hiding in vivid, unforgettable detail and grappled with
the unfolding events of World War II. Before the attic was raided in August,
1944, Anne Frank furiously revised and edited her work, crafting a piece of
literature that she hoped would be read by the public after the war. And read
it has been.

In Anne Frank, bestselling
author Francine Prose deftly parses the artistry, ambition, and enduring
influence of Anne Frank's beloved classic, The
Diary of a Young Girl. She investigates the diary's unique afterlife: the
obstacles and criticism Otto Frank faced in publishing his daughter's words;
the controversy surrounding the diary's Broadway and film adaptations, and the
social mores of the 1950s that reduced it to a tale of adolescent angst and
love; the conspiracy theories that have cried fraud, and the scientific
analysis that proved them wrong. Finally, having assigned the book to her own students,
Prose considers the rewards and challenges of teaching one of the world's most
read, and banned, books. How has the life and death of one girl become
emblematic of the lives and deaths of so many, and why do her words continue to
inspire?

Approved by both the Anne Frank
House Foundation in Amsterdam and the Anne Frank-Fonds in Basel, run by the
Frank family, Anne Frank unravels the fascinating story
of a memoir that has become one of the most compelling, intimate, and important
documents of modern history.

Front Jacket

In June, 1942, Anne Frank received a red-and-white checked diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. For two years, with ever-increasing maturity, Anne crafted a memoir that has become one of the most compelling, intimate, and important documents of modern history. She described life in hiding in vivid, unforgettable detail, explored apparently irreconcilable views of human nature-people are good at heart, but capable of unimaginable evil-and grappled with the unfolding events of World War II, until the hidden attic was raided in August, 1944.

But the diary of Anne Frank, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as an historical record. Through close reading, she marvels at the teenaged Frank′s skillfully natural narrative voice, at her finely tuned dialogue and ability to turn living people into characters. And Prose addresses what few of the diary′s millions of readers may know: this book is a deliberate work of art. During her last months in hiding, Anne Frank furiously revised and edited her work, crafting a piece of literature that she hoped would be read by the public after the war.

Read it has been. Few books have been as influential for so long, and Prose thoroughly investigates the diary′s unique afterlife: the obstacles and criticism Otto Frank faced in publishing his daughter′s words; the controversy surrounding the diary′s Broadway and film adaptations, and the 1950′s social mores that reduced it to a tale of adolescent angst and love; the claims of conspiracy theorists who have cried fraud, and the scientific analysis that proved them wrong. Finally, having assigned the book to her own students, Prose considers the rewards and challenges of teaching one of the world′s most read, and banned, books.

How has the life and death of one girl become emblematic of the lives and deaths of so many, and why do her words continue to inspire? ANNE FRANK: THE BOOK, THE LIFE, THE AFTERLIFE tells the extraordinary story of the book that became a force in the world-and it definitively establishes Anne Frank as the writer she always knew she was.

--New York Times Book Review

Back Jacket

In June, 1942, Anne Frank received a red-and-white checked diary for her thirteenth birthday, just weeks before she and her family went into hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic. For two years, with ever-increasing maturity, Anne crafted a memoir that has become one of the most compelling, intimate, and important documents of modern history. She described life in hiding in vivid, unforgettable detail, explored apparently irreconcilable views of human nature-people are good at heart, but capable of unimaginable evil-and grappled with the unfolding events of World War II, until the hidden attic was raided in August, 1944.

But the diary of Anne Frank, argues Francine Prose, is as much a work of art as an historical record. Through close reading, she marvels at the teenaged Frank′s skillfully natural narrative voice, at her finely tuned dialogue and ability to turn living people into characters. And Prose addresses what few of the diary′s millions of readers may know: this book is a deliberate work of art. During her last months in hiding, Anne Frank furiously revised and edited her work, crafting a piece of literature that she hoped would be read by the public after the war.

Read it has been. Few books have been as influential for so long, and Prose thoroughly investigates the diary′s unique afterlife: the obstacles and criticism Otto Frank faced in publishing his daughter′s words; the controversy surrounding the diary′s Broadway and film adaptations, and the 1950′s social mores that reduced it to a tale of adolescent angst and love; the claims of conspiracy theorists who have cried fraud, and the scientific analysis that proved them wrong. Finally, having assigned the book to her own students, Prose considers the rewards and challenges of teaching one of the world′s most read, and banned, books.

How has the life and death of one girl become emblematic of the lives and deaths of so many, and why do her words continue to inspire? ANNE FRANK: THE BOOK, THE LIFE, THE AFTERLIFE tells the extraordinary story of the book that became a force in the world-and it definitively establishes Anne Frank as the writer she always knew she was.