Piece Comment

Review of Professor Daniel Schwarz


Can the Holocaust be remembered... accurately? Does it matter if 'nonfiction' accounts, like Elie Wiesel's autobiography "Night," don't get all their facts quite straight? Can memory mingle with the creative imagination to create a larger truth? Does a work of art speak as truly as fact -- or more so?
These questions dominate this Out of Bounds interview with Prof. Daniel Schwarz, the author of "Imagining the Holocaust." But Tish Pearlman, the casual, low-key host and her somewhat crotchety guest seem to be out of sync. Somehow they don't find their rhythm, and as a result, at times the interview lurches from topic to topic.
Nonetheless, the half hour goes quickly -- touching on such great works as Art Spiegelman's "Maus," and "The Diary of Anne Frank," what's not to like?