The Obsession

In 1951, Meyer Levin's wife gave him a copy of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which had just been published in France. Levin was already a successful writer in his mid-forties, searching for a way to bear witness to his experiences as a war correspondent in Europe. In Anne Frank's diary, he found the voice he had been waiting for.The Obsession, widely regarded as one of Meyer Levin's finest works, is a candid account of his struggle to bring his version of Anne Frank's diary to Broadway. Levin's adaptation, begun with the support of Anne's father, Otto, was eventually deemed ‘unstageworthy,'and he was supplanted by non-Jewish writers. To Levin, it was a clear case of sanitizing Anne's story in favor of mass appeal. He battled for his version in courtrooms and out, but the fallout nearly destroyed both his family and his career.In recounting the mania that gripped him for twenty years, Levin spares neither himself nor others. Like all his best work, this extraordinary memoir encompasses larger themes—the nature of Jewishness, the price of assimilation, the writer's obligation to himself and to his subject, and the search for identity and purpose.'The Obsession is an autobiographical account by one of America's best contemporary novelists of his twenty-year agonizing enslavement to an idea.... It is a dramatic book, beautifully written, with suspense, sensational revelations, the striking changes of pace and focus, and relentless seeking after the meaning of the obsession.'- Sage Journal Publications The WWII reporter and "most significant American Jewish writer of his time" recounts his decades-long battle to stage Anne Frank's diaries ( Los Angeles Times ). As a war correspondent in Europe during World War II, Meyer Levin was among the first to report on the horrors of Nazi occupation. Also a successful novelist, he desperately wanted to bear witness to what he saw in literary form. Then, in 1951, he read The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank. It was precisely the voice he had been searching for—and he became determined to bring Anne's story to America as a Broadway play. The Obsession is Levin's candid account of this ill-fated project and the mania to see it through that gripped him for twenty years. Though Levin began writing his adaptation with the support of Anne's father, Otto, he was eventually replaced with non-Jewish writers. Refusing to let Anne's story be sanitized, Levin fought for his version in and out of courtrooms in a protracted battle that nearly destroyed both his family and his career. In this extraordinary memoir, Levin explores the nature of Jewishness, the price of assimilation, the writer's obligation to himself and to his subject, and the search for identity and purpose. In 1951, Meyer Levin's wife gave him a copy of The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, which had just been published in France. Levin was already a successful writer in his mid-forties, searching for a way to bear witness to his experiences as a war correspondent in Europe. In Anne Frank's diary, he found the voice he had been waiting for. The Obsession, widely regarded as one of Meyer Levin's finest works, is a candid account of his struggle to bring his version of Anne Frank's diary to Broadway. Levin's adaptation, begun with the support of Anne's father, Otto, was eventually deemed 'unstageworthy, ' and he was supplanted by non-Jewish writers. To Levin, it was a clear case of sanitizing Anne's story in favor of mass appeal. He battled for his version in courtrooms and out, but the fallout nearly destroyed both his family and his career. In recounting the mania that gripped him for twenty years, Levin spares neither himself nor others. Like all his best work, this extraordinary memoir encompasses larger themes-the nature of Jewishness, the price of assimilation, the writer's obligation to himself and to his subject, and the search for identity and purpose Meyer Levin's Twenty-year Battle Over Rejection And Suppression Of His Dramatization Of The Diary Of Anne Frank.