Over the course of the last couple of days, I have read at least three articles dealing with “orphaned,” “lost” or simply put, art that was stolen by the Nazis during World War II. This, of course, is not a coincidence. The new movie “Monuments Men” about Allied efforts to rescue and recover art stolen by the Nazis opens this Friday. The movie screenplay is based on Robert Edsel’s 2009 non-fiction book of the same title. This title, with a movie tie-in cover, moved up to No. 19 on the USA best seller list.
When I checked the catalog to see if we had a copy on our shelves, I saw that we do not. Almost all the libraries that do own a copy had the item either in transit or checked out. Obviously, movies sell books. Other new adult movies with book tie-ins also have gotten a boast in interest and sales. These include Mark Helprin’s “Winter’s Tale” and Joyce Maynard’s “Labor Day.”
We do have the excellent 2007 documentary “Rape of Europa,” which deals with the same topic. However, the documentary doesn’t have Clooney, Damon, Blanchett or John Goodman.