Jack Zipes’s introduction traces the history of the book’s reception and explores the tensions that Salten experienced in his own life―as a hunter who also loved animals, and as an Austrian Jew who sought acceptance in Viennese society even as he faced persecution.

Life in the forest is dangerous and precarious, and Bambi learns important lessons about survival as he grows to become a strong, heroic stag. Originally published in 1923, Salten’s story is more somber than the adaptations that followed it. This masterful new translation gives contemporary readers a fresh perspective on this moving allegorical tale and provides important details about its creator. For decades, readers’ images of Bambi have been shaped by the 1942 Walt Disney film―an idealized look at a fawn who represents nature’s innocence―which was based on a 1928 English translation of a novel by the Austrian Jewish writer Felix Salten. Most of us think we know the story of Bambi―but do we? The Original Bambi is an all-new, illustrated translation of a literary classic that presents the story as it was meant to be told. I featured her work on 50 Watts in the past and I think this is her first US appearance.Ī new, beautifully illustrated translation of Felix Salten’s celebrated novel Bambi―the original source of the beloved story I had to stock this one in particular for Alenka Sottler's lovely illustrations. The Original Bambi - The Story of a Life in the Forest by Felix Salten, translated by Jack Zipes, illustrated by Alenka Sottler / ISBN 9780691197746 / 192-page hardback from Princeton UP

Jack zipes bambi