BRAD MELTZER ON THE BOOK OF LIES & THE SIEGEL HERITAGE

[MattBrady]

Fans of Brad Meltzer’s work have gotten used to the cycle – he’ll work on a novel for a year or two, and then come back to comics for a project, then another novel, and then some more comics. With his new novel, The Book of Lies, coming out in September, Meltzer is getting the chance to merge his two worlds.

Lies will focus on two murders – that of Abel in Chapter 4 of the Book of Genesis, and also on the murder of Mitchell Siegel, father of the young Jerry Siegel – one of the two boys who created Superman.

“The pitch goes like this,” Meltzer says. “In chapter 4 of Genesis, Cain kills Abel. It is arguably the world’s most famous murder, but the Bible is silent about one key detail – the weapon which Cain used to kill his brother. And that weapon is lost to this day.

“In 1932, a man named Mitchell Siegel is shot in the chest and killed. While mourning the death of his father, his young son comes up with the idea for a bulletproof man that he nicknames Superman. The murder weapon from that murder is also lost to this day. So the question is, what do these two murders, thousands of years apart possibly have to do with each other? The answer you will see is in The Book of Lies, which comes out in September.”

The roots of the new novel’s story obviously reach into Meltzer’s lifetime love of comics, but they took on new life relatively recently, thanks to a Sarasota, FL book signing.

“I was at a signing in the middle of Florida, and, as I do at every signing, I was waxing on about my love of comics, and this sweet old woman raises her hand and says, “I know Jerry Siegel,” and I think to myself when you’re sitting in hot, Sarasota, Florida, there is no way that any woman who is at a bookstore and raises her hand and says that is going to tell me more about Jerry Siegel than I know about him myself.”

Meltzer was surprised to find out he was wrong. Very wrong.

“The lovely woman tells me that Jerry was her first cousin, she knows the whole family, she grew up in the house with the family, and my mouth dropped open. I cornered her after that, got her phone number, and everything started. I always wear my love for them on my sleeve, and will talk about them to anyone who will listen, and just happened to be in front of the right person. So for the past two years, I’ve been researching the murder of Mitchell Siegel and I won’t say much more about it, but needless to say, it has become an obsession for me.”

As a result of his work, Metlzer’s come to a conclusion about the murder of Jerry Siegel’s father: “People don’t know the story,” the writer says. “They really don’t. That’s the most amazing part – here’s arguably one of the greatest heroes ever created, and we don’t know why we got him.”

Of course, the research included several trips to Cleveland, where Mitchell and his family lived. Actually, some of Meltzer’s trips made news as Newsarama’s Mike San Giacomo dropped his name here and there as one of the many comic folk he’d taken on the tour of “Jerry Siegel’s Cleveland,” which includes the house in which Jerry grew up.

As regular Newsarama readers know, Cleveland will be holding a “Summer of Superman” this year, in honor of the 70th Anniversary of Superman’s creation. Again, San Giacomo named-dropped Meltzer, this time as someone who would be helping in the restoration and preservation efforts of the house.

“I knew what I was doing when I went into the house, and I knew what role the attic was going to play when we went there,” Meltzer recalls of a research trip to the house, “But when I saw the shape that it was in – new wheels started spinning in my head. So one of the things that we’re going to do is try and save this house. This is an American landmark. It deserves better than what its received. This is something that I take very seriously – they went in and saved the house where the founders of Google came up with it. That pales in comparison to this.”

[Blackbeard]

"Book of Lies." What a brilliant title!

Good luck with the new book, Brad! I look forward to reading it.

[JETLASH]

Sounds like a good idea for a book. Might actually have to get it. And as for helping with restoring the house. Very cool indeed!

[Kevin Street]

I didn't know that Jerry Siegel's father was murdered. This sounds like a fascinating idea for a novel!

[Dalarsco2]

Wow. I never knew that. I have so much more respect for Superman now that I know where the concept came from.

[Cap Patriot]

Interesting... I wasn't aware of this aspect of the Siegel history.

I'm going to have to keep a look out for this one. I love Brad's work in the comics and thought about reading one of his books. This sounds like a good one to go with.

[Simon DelMonte]

I don't think I've ever seen any speculation about what Cain used to kill Abel, and I'm somewhat well-versed in traditional Jewish biblical commentaries. Interesting that Brad picked up on that for a jumping off point.

[caats19]

i am soo buying that book.

[rwe1138]

Sounds good. Definitely gonna pick it up.

[FireLight]

Sounds VERY interesting. I also did not know Siegel's father was murdered. Looking forward to this.

[HartyPotter]

huh, I'll have to look out for this.

[vbartilucci]

The idea of making the weapon Cain used out to be an important artifact is not new - the Crime Bible in DC is using the idea right now. There's scarcely an item mentioned in the Bible that hasn't had legends attached to it. But the idea of connecting it to the creation of Superman is a very interesting idea, and one I would like to hear more about.

It's rather interesting how guns are linked to both the creation of the character, and the beginning of the end of his golden period (with the death of George Reeves). One can find connections between everything if one looks hard enough, I suppose, but it's an odd and tragic coincedence.

Considering how tangled the relationship between DC and the Siegels are right now, I'd love to hear a little behind the scenes on how he got permission to work with them.It took him a while, but Meltzer has finally been able to combine his love of comics and his novel-writing careers. I'll be curious to see what if any more attention the book will bring to the aforementioned Siegel/Superman situation. It'll be a shame if DC will be loath to help push both the book and the character for fear of bringing sympathy to Mrs. Siegel's case.

[SpaceButler]

Looks interesting. Might have to get it.

[DreamKing]

I wonder if this has any connection to Aleister Crowley's Book of Lies.

[matt37909]

I remember Brian K. Vaughan touching on the murder of Siegel's father briefly in The Escapists, connecting it to the creation of the bullet-proof superhero. That was the first I had heard of it and that really added alot of insight into the character of Superman for me.

Sounds like a really interesting novel, count me in.

[Johnny Triangles]

Wow, fascinating topic. Didn't know that about Seigel's father. Of course with Meltzer writing it will be horribly executed, but I do appreciate Meltzer at least making us aware of this story.

[G Dog]

Not to ____ on anyone's parade, but it's not really exclusive, since the plot has been up on amazon.com for a while.

Also, his last novel was Book of Fate, and this one is Book of Lies, yet they're not related? Seems like a kind of stupid idea.

Also, could the title be more generic?

[HulkSmashNow]

Hey, this has to better than Metzler's run on Justice League of America, right? Right?

[Xero]

Originally Posted by G Dog

Blah blah blah.....................lso, could the title be more generic?

Bad dog, no biscuit for you.

[protonik]

Originally Posted by Blackbeard

"Book of Lies." What a brilliant title!

Good luck with the new book, Brad! I look forward to reading it.

I liked it better when Aleister Crowley came up with it in 1910 and then when Richard Metzger re-used it last year...

[c_andrew_s]

Originally Posted by Blackbeard

"Book of Lies." What a brilliant title!

Good luck with the new book, Brad! I look forward to reading it.

I agree, but hey... I always agree with Dwight

[JackHarkness]

Originally Posted by HulkSmashNow

Hey, this has to better than Metzler's run on Justice League of America, right? Right?

No: Each thing Meltzer writes is more wretched than the last, so every time you read something new by him, you're reading the worst thing he's written to date.

[tunabeard]

If people don't like his style of writing, why bother posting such negative rants about him?

[absherlock]

I'm not really a fan of his legal thrillers, but this one seems a little off his beaten path. He's got my interest.

[rhiggatwat]

i like the idea of this alot. sounds really interesting. count me in.

brad meltzer is one of the nicest guys you will ever meet. he really is. i met him a year ago at the last (2007) new york comic con and he was extremely nice and took the time to talk to me (for some time), and give me advice, which was very nice of him as he was busy and between panels.