Remember That One Time When Markus Zusak Came?

#MZweek

I'm teased a little (okay, a lot) about  my love and infatuation for all things Markus Zusak. Even my husband has jumped on that particular band wagon! But let me just say right here, there are many many people who feel the same way about him. There is no way AT ALL that I have any sort of corner on the Markus Zusak frenzied fan market. 

To prove that, I've gone back in time to late March 2011, back when the man himself came to our humble corner of the world. I've found as many blog posts as I could where other fans like me raved about the experience. Here's what they had to say:

There is no way I can put into words how fabulous the evening was. From Eve's Fan Garden

Markus immediately drew us as an audience in with his humility and personality..... I am full of respect for this author, who was so giving to his fans and so humble despite his success. From The Story Girl

What a gracious man. From Once Upon a Time

[He says] he’s a writer because he tries to do the simple things well. From Chersti Nieveen

The man himself arrived and the room, which was mostly women, went wild. From The Adventures of Karl and Allie

He was funny, charming, personable, quick-witted, smart, and articulate in both his talk and the Q&A session afterward. Seriously, listening to him was pure entertainment. From Book Harbinger

Even though he must have been exhausted he talked to everyone, and didn't just sign his name. He wrote inscriptions and even added little doodles From Amelia

Here is the guy who wrote a book that made me cry the entire last 50 pages. Here is the guy who inspired me to keep my chin up when things were really depressing this summer. Here is the guy who wrote, honestly, one of the best books I have read in a long time. I couldn't stop smiling....Sometimes, they meet your expectations. Sometimes, they surpass. From Emma Sue Alice

I know it sounds cheesy, but the room was just filled with this feel good vibe because we were all so happy to be there and he was so happy to be there and there was just this huge amount of love going back and forth between him and the audience that night. From Richey Family

And did I mention that he is young? And Australian? And kind of cute? Not that I'm saying that here, just, you know. Some might. From Voice of Reason

He said that he felt so comfortable with this audience. He told us things that he doesn't normally tell. How special! From Book Adventures

He thought that The Book Thief would be the most unsuccessful of all his books. He wasn’t writing it for fame. He wrote it because he really felt it. It was something that was close to him. From Karen M. Krueger

....and then he read from The Book Thief, which was stunning to me. The audience nearly forgot to clap afterwards we were all so... so... floored really. It was so cool. From It's All About Books

My very favorite thing he said was telling us about a beginning to The Book Thief that did not work. It was far too creepy-stalkerish. It began with Death saying: "This is the story of a young girl. Do you like young girls? I do. Then again, I like everyone." From J.L. Collings

As it turns out, he is delightful, insightful, modest, entertaining, charming, obliging, appreciative, interesting, and unpretentious. From Every Day I Write the Book

This was the best signing event I've ever been to. Markus’s presentation was hilarious, entertaining, enlightening, moving, and just overall fantastic. From Jenni Elyse

Wow! What fun it's been for me to re-live that event through everyone else's eyes! I'm so curious now to know if the people who met him this week in Chicago are feeling the same way. My guess? Without a doubt, yes.

Here's a montage video I made back then of the experience. Enjoy!




Have you met a favorite author? Did the experience live up to your expectations?