The plays and stories of Heinrich von Kleist seem particularly modern, in that they show a world in which the individual can no longer rely on the institutions of society, the discoveries of science, or the revelations of religion. Instead, his characters can trust only in their intuition of some higher, though unknowable, providential purpose. At a time when the writers of German classicism counseled moderation and restraint, Kleist excelled in depicting elemental passions. He differed, however, from the writers of both Storm and Stress and romanticism in the austere character of his language and the almost clinical detachment of his narrative prose. Kleist was born into a distinguished… though impoverished Prussian family. In 1799, he broke with family tradition by refusing to pursue a military career. For a while he wished to study natural science, but, in 1801, a reading of Kant precipitated a crisis by convincing him that knowledge was impossible. The rest of his tempestuous life was marked by generally unsuccessful attempts to establish himself in various vocations, including journalism and politics. He achieved some moderate success with his play Katchen von Heilbronn in 1810, but most of his work remained unappreciated. Prince Friedrich von Homburg, now his most celebrated play, was not to be discovered and published until 1821, a decade after the author's death by suicide. The suicide of Kleist brought him the attention that had been denied him in life. He was, almost immediately afterward, recognized as a significant writer, and his reputation has grown steadily ever since. David Luke and Nigel Reeves have written, "It is precisely Kleist's vulnerability and disequilibrium, his desperate challenge to established values and beliefs, that carry him further than Goethe and Schiller across the gap between the eighteenth century and our own age." Despite the great attention now given to the work of Kleist in Germany, he remains largely unknown to the American public. In Japan and Korea, however, in part because of cultural affinities, he is extremely popular.
Maurice Bernard Sendak was born on June 10, 1928 in Brooklyn, New York, the youngest of three children. His parents were Polish Jews who had come to the United States before the start of World War I. His first professional job as an illustrator (while he was still in high school) involved adapting the "Mutt and Jeff" newspaper comic strip to a comic book format. He later worked as a window-display director for New York's famous toy store, F.A.O. Schwartz, while attending night school at the Art Students League. In 1950, Ursula Nordstrom, children's book editor at Harper and Brothers, gave him his first chance to illustrate a children's book. His talents were soon in demand. He wrote his… first book, Kenny's Window, in 1956 and went on to become a prolific author-illustrator. Sendak is noted for his zany characters and fantastic themes. In 1964 he won the prestigious Caldecott medal for his picture book Where The Wild Things Are. Although occasionally Sendak's work has provoked controversy, he has become one of the best known and beloved creators of children's books and has received many awards. His works include Chicken Soup with Rice; In the Night Kitchen; Outside Over There; Higglety Pigglety Pop; and We Are All in the Dumps with Jack and Guy. In 1970, he was the first American to receive the Hans Christian Andersen International Medal and in 1997 he received the National Medal of Arts from President Clinton. Characters from two of Sendak's books were the basis of an animated television special, Really Rosie, which first aired in 1975. Sendak was also the set designer and lyricist for a subsequent off-Broadway musical of the same title, with music composed by Carol King. He was the lyricist, as well as the set and costume designer, for the original production of an opera based on Where The Wild Things Are (with music by Oliver Knussen) in 1980. In addition, Sendak has designed sets and costumes for performances of operas by Mozart, Prokofiev, and other classical composers.