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  • Beyond the Pale: New Essays for a New Era
  • Giselle Liza Anatol (bio)
Marc Aronson . Beyond the Pale: New Essays for a New Era. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow P, 2003.

Marc Aronson is well known within the publishing world. He directs the Cricket Books and Open Court divisions of Carus Publishing, where he also serves as vice president. Dedicated in particular to works for young adults, he developed an imprint for international and multicultural books for teenagers, and has written Exploding the Myths: the Truth About Teenagers and Reading (Scarecrow 2001). As an editor, he has advised such influential artists and writers as Chris Raschka, Nikki Giovanni, and Paul Fleischman. Finally, as a history enthusiast and scholar, Aronson earned a doctorate in American history and is the author of two books on Puritan culture: Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials (Atheneum, 2003) and John Winthrop, Oliver Cromwell, and the Land of Promise (Clarion, 2004); he also authored Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado (Clarion, 2000) and Art Attack: A Short Cultural History of the Avant-Garde (Clarion, 1998). Aronson's interests in cultural diversity, American history, and publishing for a specifically YA audience clearly shine through in the collection of essays, Beyond the Pale.

The essays in section one address cultural diversity head-on as Aronson interrogates the issue: "What is the 'Multi' in Multiculture?" The remainder of the book continues to circle around the topic of difference with repeated references to religion and faith. Section three looks back to the colonial period in US history, exploring the difficulties of representing the Salem witch trials, not only for child audiences but for adults as well. The second half of the book combines considerations of history with a discussion of the challenges of publishing for adolescent [End Page 124] readers. Aronson critiques the publishing industry and larger culture for identifying "literature" almost exclusively as fiction, thereby alienating those who thrive on nonfiction. Chapter eleven engages with a related problem in YA publishing: the tension between what surveyed teens claim drive their reading habits and the vast number of books published each year that run counter to these expressed desires. Aronson questions the responsibility that publishers have to readers and their demands, and the sometimes conflicting obligation to writers and their creative processes. Aronson's principle argument in this portion of the text is that while fiction is valuable in its ability to connect readers to the inner life of an individual, "nonfiction takes us out into the world, . . . levels us, as products of history, connects us, showing the forces that influence us all" (132).

The writings in the book, a combination of published articles and speeches, were conceived and delivered in the time period beginning a few months before September 11, 2001, and continuing through the following year. And although the initial controversial piece on the value of literary prizes based on author ethnicity and a reply by publisher Andrea Davis Pinkney were composed prior to the terrorist attacks, Aronson's ensuing response and the rest of the work were written post-9/11, making the entire book heavily influenced by this historical moment. Sections two and three are dedicated to "9/11 and Its Aftermath" from artistic and historical perspectives, respectively, drawing on connections between the Puritans and contemporary fundamentalists, such as their desire to build community around "social sharing and deep faith" (50). Arguing that, in the name of group cohesion, unexamined "faith" can silence the individual voices necessary for group health, Aronson urges independent thought and vocalization among devout Muslims as well as among secular Americans who attempt to recreate witch-hunts, targeting Arab Americans after 9/11. He draws interesting parallels with Arthur Miller's experiences in the 1950s: the psychology of the witch-hunt represented in The Crucible, facing the House Un-American Activities Committee as it relentlessly sought out Communist contagion, and the relationship between his Jewish faith and his struggle with modernity.

The title of Aronson's book refers to the Pale of Settlement, the specific regions of the Ukraine in which Russian Jews, such as Aronson's father, were allowed to live and work under the anti...

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