Vox Tablet

David Rakoff Reads Bambi

Bambi was invented by a Viennese Jew. David Rakoff, who died Aug. 9, examined the story’s dark side in 2006.

August 10, 2012
(Apic/Getty Images)
(Apic/Getty Images)

David Rakoff, a contributor to our site, died Aug. 9, 2012, after a battle with cancer. He was 47.

Some years ago, Rakoff wrote an essay on the life and work of Viennese writer Felix Salten. The creator of Bambi, Salten was a European Jew who wrote soft porn and a prominent critic in early 20th-century Austria. In concert with this essay, Rakoff joined Vox Tablet host Sara Ivry for a podcast conversation about the brutality in Bambi, about Salten’s place in literary society, and about the dark side of fairy tales—and life.

We re-run this piece now to celebrate David Rakoff, whose wit, warmth, and grace come across in every utterance, and whose reading of a particularly wrenching scene from Bambi gives a sense both of the work’s violence and of Rakoff’s own captivating voice. [Running time: 19:12.]

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May his memory be for a blessing.

Vox Tablet is Tablet Magazine’s weekly podcast, hosted by Sara Ivry and produced by Julie Subrin. You can listen to individual episodes here or subscribe on iTunes.

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