Markus Zusak is an Australian author who is best known for his book The Book Thief, which has sold over one million copies worldwide. He was born on June 23, 1975, the youngest of four children, to a German mother and an Austrian father. By the time Markus was 16 he knew he wanted to be a writer. This conclusion had a lot to do with the way his parents raised him. His parents, being as they could not speak English when they first came to Australia, made sure he and his siblings always had plenty to read as a way to teach them communication skills. This allowed Zusak to come upon two books called What’s Eating Gilbert Grape and The Old Man and the Sea. These books not only became Zusak’s favorite teenage books but also became his inspiration to become a writer.
After deciding he wanted to be a writer, Zusak started on his first manuscript and finished it by the age of 18; however, the his first book, The Underdog, was not published until 1999 when he was 24. While writing book Zusak also studied to become a teacher in college and became a high school English teacher. Zusak’s most famous book, The Book Thief, was published in March of 2006.
Although Zusak lives in the modern world he was inspired by the time his parents lived in, WWII and Nazi Germany. For example his inspiration for writing The Book Thief came from his mother’s stories of Nazi Germany, the bombing of Munich and about Jews being marched through his mother’s small German town. However, the most memorable story his mother told him was one of a small child giving an old Jewish man a piece of bread as he was dragged to a concentration camp. “Soon, a soldier noticed and walked over. He tore the bread from the man's hands and whipped him for taking it. Then he chased the boy and whipped him for giving him the bread in the first place. In one moment, there was great kindness and great cruelty, and I saw it as the perfect story of how humans are.” (Markus Zusak) This story was the story that eventually grew into The Book Thief, with its theme amplifying the good, bad, and everything in between within people.
After deciding he wanted to be a writer, Zusak started on his first manuscript and finished it by the age of 18; however, the his first book, The Underdog, was not published until 1999 when he was 24. While writing book Zusak also studied to become a teacher in college and became a high school English teacher. Zusak’s most famous book, The Book Thief, was published in March of 2006.
Although Zusak lives in the modern world he was inspired by the time his parents lived in, WWII and Nazi Germany. For example his inspiration for writing The Book Thief came from his mother’s stories of Nazi Germany, the bombing of Munich and about Jews being marched through his mother’s small German town. However, the most memorable story his mother told him was one of a small child giving an old Jewish man a piece of bread as he was dragged to a concentration camp. “Soon, a soldier noticed and walked over. He tore the bread from the man's hands and whipped him for taking it. Then he chased the boy and whipped him for giving him the bread in the first place. In one moment, there was great kindness and great cruelty, and I saw it as the perfect story of how humans are.” (Markus Zusak) This story was the story that eventually grew into The Book Thief, with its theme amplifying the good, bad, and everything in between within people.
(Lawson)
The video above shows a brief explanation of WWII and the Holocaust, the time in which Zusak's parents grew up. It is also the time period which inspired Zusak to write The Book Thief.