Karen Fray
English 112B
11/30/05
Annotated
Bibliography of Paul Zindel
The World of Paul Zindel
Paul
Zindel is a classic example of a renaissance man, starting out as a high school
chemistry teacher and finishing his life as an acclaimed writer. His works are diverse in their scope. He has written screenplays, plays and many
books, which capture his quirky personality. Most of Zindel�s books are for the young adult audience and semi-autobiographical,
featuring regular teenagers as the protagonists.
Biography
Paul Zindel was born in Staten Island, New York in
1936 and is second generation Dutch on his father�s side and Irish on his
mother�s side. His father was a
police officer who left the family for a woman he met while on duty. Paul rarely had contact with his father
after he left.
His mother, Beatrice Mary Frank Zindel held many jobs
trying to support her family and they moved about once a year, leaving Zindel
feeling rootless and always an outsider.
Mrs. Zindel was paranoid, depressed and she felt she got a bad deal in
life. Her professions were hat
check girl, collie breeder, riveter in a shipyard during World War II and nurse. As an adult, Zindel wished he had been
able to provide a better life for his mother, especially after he had achieved
success with his writing.
Zindel contracted tuberculosis at age 15 and spent 18
months in a sanatorium in upstate New York, which caused him to miss a year of
high school. He had a job as a
waiter at a resort on Lake George New York. The book The Amazing and Death Defying Diary of Eugene
Dingman chronicles his experiences
there.
Mr.
Zindel married Bonnie Hildebrand, a novelist, in 1973 and had two children,
David and Lizabeth. They were
divorced in 1998. Paul Zindel died
in 2003 of cancer.
College
and Careers
Zindel did not like to read, when asked to do a
reading assignment he would look for the thinnest book in the library. There were no books in the Zindel home
and he acknowledged that he writes for reluctant readers. He attended Wagner College in Staten
Island and graduated in 1958 with a degree in Chemistry. Playwright Edward Albee was his
professor at Wagner and encouraged him to explore his talent for drama. Zindel
became a technical writer for Allied Chemical, enabling him to combine his passions:
writing and chemistry. He grew
bored and returned to college for his teaching credential to teach high school
chemistry. He spent his summers
writing plays, took a leave of absence from teaching, and finally quit teaching
to devote himself to writing fulltime.
His big break came from children�s writer and editor,
Charlotte Zolotow, he said of her, �She got me to write my first novel, The
Pigman. She brought me into an area that I never explored before: my
own confused, funny, aching teenage days.�
Taken from My Biography by Paul Zindel(for Scholastic)
http://www.paulzindel.com/finalpages/BIO/biobypz.htm
Reality
into Fiction
One of Paul Zindel�s character-patterns is a male and
female couple who often have a platonic, but spiritually and emotionally
intimate relationship. He bases many
of his female characters on Jennifer, his real life friend and confidante, in
his autobiographical The Pigman and Me and on his sister, Betty.
Zindel fills his works with concepts with which teens
can identify. Low self-esteem,
isolation, and loneliness are just some of the feelings with which many of
Zindel�s characters contend. The
social problems that Zindel features are those that most teens can understand:
being different, single parent families and lack of self-confidence. Because he was moved around so much
during his teen years, Zindel creates characters who likewise feel out of the
mainstream. Zindel�s plots and
characters are based on his insights and observations garnered while teaching
high school in Staten Island.
�Teenagers feel they are misfits. They�re at an age when they should feel out of place. It�s a natural condition. I know it�s a continuing battle to get through the years
between twelve and twenty, so I always write from the teenager�s point of view.
Taken
from A Star for the
Latecomer. By
Bonnie Zindel and Paul Zindel.1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1980, comments
at the end of the book.
Paul Zindel injects Pigman-like male figures into his
stories to provide the male adult role model that was absent in his own
family. Zindel provides a sense of
hope where there is none inside a teenager�s mind by including these mentoring
figures in his stories. His
language is that of a teenager. The
narrative is often in a conversational style, with clever uses of hyperbole. His
book titles are humorous.
The parents in his books are flawed, but not portrayed
as monsters. In many cases, the
�Paul� protagonist faults his parents, yet has sympathy for them and their
plight. In his own life, for
example, he felt sorry for his mother who was not a positive role model for him
and acknowledged that his father�s desertion and adultery were big contributors
to her misery, which she shared with her children. Using his books in class would help teens understand that their
parents as humans as well as parents.
Beatrice Zindel, Paul�s mother played a huge part in
Zindel�s writing. However, her
influence did not come in encouragement or support. In fact, it was quite the reverse; Paul used his writing to
escape his grim life with his depressed mother. The prototypes for the many of the mothers in his books are
based on his real, domineering mother.
Zindel
on His Works
�I can�t
help being reminded of my favorite theory: We all, most basically, create and tell stories to solve
problems. We conjure all sorts of
strange characters, march them into frantic conflict with each other, and at
the end of the battle hope we�ve learned something. It�s important, too, that those who read and hear our
stories find answers for their own lives.
We look for insights, epiphanies that shed light on humanness, tolerance,
anguish, and compassion. We want
to glimpse who we really are and understand why we�re on this planet. And, of course, we writers write in
dreamlike codes, do anything to throw our readers off the track, praying no one
will catch on that we are putting on display little pieces or our joys, our
fears, and our hearts.�
Taken from The Effect of Gamma Rays on
Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds; A Drama in Two Acts. New York: Dramatists Play Service, 1970.
Works
The Amazing and Death
Defying Diary of Eugene Dingman. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Eugene Dingman is a sensitive
and na�ve fifteen-year-old living in Bayonne, New Jersey (just a
sulfuric-kissed breeze from the usual Staten Island setting of Zindel�s
books.) On his fifteenth birthday,
Eugene gets a job as a waiter in an upstate New York lakeside resort. Eugene�s family is composed of his
mother, who is on a self-help kick and his sister, Penelope his best friend who
is modeled after Zindel�s sister, Betty.
His mother rents out their basement to Mr. Mayo and eventually they
become engaged. As in his real
life, Zindel gives Eugene a police officer father who severs all ties with his
family after he abandons them for another woman. Eugene falls in love with fellow staff member Della, a liar of
dubious moral character. Eugene
makes friends with the much older Mahatma, a fellow waiter who becomes his mentor. Mahatma is a slight variation of the
Pigman characters in previous books.
The ethnic difference underscores that �your pigman� can be in the form
of anyone. Eugene is deeply
affected by the rejection he receives from Della and his father, however, is
accepted, unconditionally, by Mahatma .
Pardon Me,
You're Stepping on My Eyeball! 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1976
The novel centers around two
main characters, Louis �Marsh� Mellow and Edna Shinglebox. They both are considered strange by their
peers. They are required to take
one of their classes as GTE (Group Therapy Experience), led by the school
psychiatrist. Marsh carries around
a baby squirrel in his pocket at all times. His mother is a man-hating drunk whom he calls �Schizo
Susie.� He carries letters laced
with paranoia from his father, giving dad the name of �Paranoid Pete.� He wants to break his father out of �The
Neurological Hospital for the Insane and Crazy� in California. Edna�s mother is another one of Zindel�s
hypercritical and demeaning mothers.
Zindel also continues his pattern of boy-girl friendships that are
strong, meaningful, and mutually consoling. Eventually, the truth is learned about Marsh�s father and
the two can become true friends. This
is one of his darker novels. It
had less humor and dealt with more serious issues than many of his other
books. He continues with his
tradition of real teens experiencing real situations like depression, drinking,
social pressures, alienation, and having less than perfect parents.
My Darling, My
Hamburger New York: Harper &
Row, 1969
The book�s title is a jab at
advice that teenage girls got in a sex-education class. Responding to a question about what to
do when girls they feel a sexual situation is �going too far�, their na�ve
teacher tells the girls to suggest to their boyfriends that they should go and
get a hamburger instead. Popular seniors
Liz and Sean are a couple coping with their emerging sexuality. Sean is a serious and principled, but
he is still a teenaged boy; Liz is
shallow and impetuous. They come
from middle-class parents, who are social climbers. The less popular Maggie is Liz�s best friend and they
communicate with notes during school.
Dennis is Maggie�s first boyfriend and they find comfort in each other
and ease each other�s insecurities.
They both come from solid families. The two couples are friends, but when Liz becomes pregnant,
things start to unravel. Liz gets
an illegal abortion in New Jersey--with Maggie along for support--on their senior
prom night. After the abortion,
nothing is the same and the four go their separate ways. My Darling, My Hamburger has dated content as far as the illegal abortion. However, the hardship of a high school
pregnancy can occur in any decade.
Zindel illustrates that teens have choices and with choices, there are consequences. He includes memos from school and notes
from the girls in their handwriting to give a realistic feeling. This book has appeared on the banned
books list for the sexual and abortion content.
The Pigman 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
The Pigman was first
of the two Pigman books. John
Conlan and Lorraine Jensen take turns narrating every other chapter, often making
remarks about each other. John is a
good-hearted, but slightly �bad boy� for drinking, smoking, and cursing. Lorraine is a sensitive good girl. They and some friends decide to pass
the time making crank phone calls.
John and Lorraine pretend to be a charity to get Angelo Pignati (the Pigman)
to donate money. Lorraine has
qualms right away, but John does not; both fall under Pignati�s spell when they
meet him. Mr. Pignati treats them
as friends and gives them the love and respect they do not receive from their
own families. He shows them his eclectic
collection of pig figurines and introduces them to exotic delicacies. Disaster occurs when the two decide to
have a party and it gets out of hand.
The two will never be the same again. They are tinged with guilt and grief about Pignati�s death
feeling that they were the cause of it.
This book was considered �dangerous� because it features �liars,
cheaters, and stealers.� In the1990s,
it made the list of most frequently banned books.
The Pigman's Legacy 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
John Conlan and Lorraine
Jensen return in the The Pigman's Legacy. The two teens are
devastated with guilt about the death of their �Pigman�, Mr. Pignati. While passing the vacant Pignati house,
they are sure they see his ghost.
Upon investigation, they discover a frail, but cantankerous, old man who
claims to be Gus. In reality,
�Gus� is a former award-winning designer of subways around the world. They refer to him as the Colonel, not
Gus, who turns out to be the Colonel�s dog. He is an Internal Revenue Service fugitive and is destitute. Feisty Dolly Racinski, the
student-abused custodian, is introduced to the Colonel and they become friends. The four take a trip to Atlantic City,
which ends badly. John and
Lorraine are again dealing with death and guilt. This book is a commentary on loneliness, the plight of the
elderly poor in the United States, and the dangers of compulsive gambling.
The Pigman and Me 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1992.
Mom is the man-hating, get-rich-quick-scheming
mother of Paul and Betty who derives no pleasure from life. Beatrice Zindel meets the recently
deserted Connie Vivona, who reveals that she has $800 in the bank, which Mrs.
Zindel talks her into putting most of that down on a house for them to co-own. Paul meets The Pigman�Mr. Vivona or
Nonno Frankie�Connies� father.
Nonno Frankie and Paul become good friends. Paul is suddenly exposed to a lively and loving Italian
family. Mr. Vivona becomes Paul�s
confidant and the parent he never had. He shares his outlook on life, complete with advice. Paul befriends Jennifer, who refers to
her parents as Zombies, because of their age and is despondent over the prospect
of remaining in Travis and marrying a Travis boy. Their retreat is the huge apple tree on the Zindel property. Mrs. Zindel gets fed-up once again with
her living situation--Connie�s dating and sex talk with Betty is the catalyst
for her outrage. Once more, the
Zindels pack up their car and move away, with high hopes from mom. Once more Paul is without a positive adult
role model. Nonno Frankie leaves
Paul with self-confidence and hope he would have never gotten otherwise and most
of all, the inspiration to become a writer!
A Begonia for Miss Applebaum 1st ed. New York: Harper
& Row, 1989.
Miss
Applebaum is Zindel�s female version of the Pigman. Henry and Zelda are two friends living in New York. As in two of the Pigman books, they
take turns narrating the chapters, also interjecting comments about the
other. Henry regards his parents as self-absorbed and cold
and describes his conception as �the eighth wonder of the world.� (22) Zelda feels that Henry is too harsh on his
parents. Zelda adores her family
and is sympathetic about her mom's insecurity about her looks. After their beloved science teacher has retired, Henry
and Zelda visit her with a begonia and learn that Mrs. Applebaum is seriously
ill. Miss Applebaum shares
her zest for life with the teens and shows them magical places in New York City. She feeds homeless people in the park
and while in the hospital, instructs the teens to carry on for her. A Begonia for Miss Applebaum brings up the subjects of homelessness and charity, quality
of life, illness, and death.
Confessions of a Teenage Baboon 1st ed. New York: Harper
& Row, 1977.
Chris Boyd is a misfit who, once again, is moving
with Helen, his pilfering practical care nurse mother, into the home of a
patient. Chris�s father left the
family and �went to Mexico where he died from an overdose of amoebas.� (6) They find themselves in the Dipardi
home, in Staten Island, NY, their new, but temporary home. Also in the home are Mr. Dipardi, who
is left mentally deficient after his stroke and Lloyd, their 30-year old
son. Lloyd is a hard-drinking
shipyard worker who surrounds himself with teenagers. He is harsh with Chris, but in Chris, Lloyd sees himself: a
teen also beaten down by his mother and needing the counsel of a male adult
figure in his life. Lloyd can see how
destructive Helen is and that Chris is in danger of becoming what he feels he has
become--a loser. During one of his
regular teen-filled parties, Lloyd slaps Harold, another boy whom Lloyd mentors,
and things fall apart. Helen calls
the police on Lloyd. In quick
succession, Chris witnesses Lloyd�s beating by the police, the death of Mrs.
Dipardi, and the suicide of Lloyd. This book highlights the migrant lifestyle that the author
experienced and emphasizes the consequences of rootlessness, such as going to
multiple high schools, not developing any friends and causing Chris/Paul always
to feel like an outsider.
A
Star for the Latecomer By Bonnie
Zindel and Paul Zindel.1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1980.
One of the least humorous of
Zindel�s books, co-written with his wife, tells of a girl�s drive to succeed in
show business before the death of her mother. Brooke Hillary loves her mother and is shattered to learn of
her cancer. Brooke is heartbroken by her mom�s increasing debility from the
illness. She attends a performing
arts high school in New York City and commutes daily from Long Island. Her mother is portrayed as a loving,
but pressuring mom who uses her sickness to coerce her daughter into success
before her death. Brooke�s first love
and schoolmate, Brandon is lost to her when he achieves success in
Hollywood. After her mother dies,
Brooke removes her mandatory makeup mask and sees the real girl she is. Good for discussion are the topics of the
death of a parent, parents who push their children into success that they could
not realize, and how much of one�s life should be sacrificed for fame and
fortune.
Plays
The Effect of Gamma
Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds;
A Drama in Two Acts. New York:
Dramatists Play Service, 1970.
This was a Pulitzer Prize
winner. Two daughters, Ruth and
Matilda Hunsdorfer endure their mother, her idiosyncrasies, and the parade of
elderly and dying boarders in their home.
Ruth is the older and louder daughter who suffers seizures and
horrendous nightmares about the various people left in their care. Matilda is the sensitive and intellectual
daughter whose passion for science is an annoyance to Beatrice, the mom. Beatrice is the mother who is disgusted
by life and the desertion of her husband.
Zindel�s inspiration for both Ruth and Matilda were his sister Betty (Zindel,
vii).
http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/zindelbib.htm
Screenplays
The Effect of Marigolds
on Man-in-the-Moon-Marigolds
From the Pulitzer Prize
winning play by Paul Zindel, this is the story of Beatrice Hunsdorfer and her
daughters, Ruth and Matilda. A
middle-aged widowed eccentric, Beatrice is looking for her life in the
classified ads while all about her is the rubble of an unkempt house. All she needs is the right opportunity,
she says, puffing on a cigarette. Ruth,
epileptic and making her way through the rebellious phase of adolescence, seems
doomed to make the same mistakes as her mother. Quiet Matilda, on the other hand, seeks refuge in her animals
and her schoolwork. The title of
the film is the subject of Matilda's science project at school and serves as a
metaphor for the way life effects each of us differently -- how some are able
to find opportunity in adversity and thrive and how some succumb when the
burden becomes too heavy.
Taken from http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0068528/
About Paul Zindel
Forman, Jack Jacob. Presenting
Paul Zindel. Boston: Twayne, 1988.
Some biography and literary
criticism.
Taken from Internet School
Library Media Center Paul Zindel bibliography.