Author Art Spiegelman decries school ban of his novel 'Maus' and Holocaust books

Published January 28, 2022 at 12:52 PM EST

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The cover of the graphic novel "Maus" by Art Spiegelman. A school board in Tennessee has added to a surge in book bans by conservatives with an order to remove the award-winning 1986 graphic novel on the Holocaust, "Maus," from local student libraries. Author Art Spiegelman told CNN on January 27 — coincidentally International Holocaust Remembrance Day — that the ban of his book for crude language was "myopic" and represents a "bigger and stupider" problem than any with his specific work. (Maro Siranosian/ AFP/Getty Images)

Educators in McMinn County, Tennessee, are standing by their ban of a Pultizer Prize-winning graphic novel that tells the tale of Holocaust survival, depicting Nazis as cats and Jews as mice.

Art Spiegelman‘s “Maus” is based on his own parents’ story of surviving the Auschwitz concentration camp and has been included in school curricula since its release in 1980. Many students say the book played a defining role in their understanding of the Holocaust.

McMinn County’s unanimous decision was based on “objectionable language” and a cartoon image including nudity. The book had been assigned as reading for 13 and 14 year-olds.

Host Anthony Brooks discusses the controversy with author Spiegelman.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.