Michael Jackson Books

ALL ABOUT MICHAEL JACKSON

The books below are books actually written by Michael Jackson. Read about him from his own words. Or in other cases they are a chance to read his poems, see hand written lyrics or previously unreleased photos and much more.

MOONWALK

This book was Michael Jackson's first autobiography published by Doubleday in 1988. The book was released in both hardcover and paperback.

In 'Moonwalk', Michael talks for the first time about his life, from his early Jackson 5 days, through the making of his albums , Off The Wall, Thriller and Bad. He touches on some of the most prominent rumours that have surrounded his career.

The book contains many never-before-seen photographs from the Jackson family archives, as well as photos taken of Michael throughout his lengthy career, and artwork drawn by Michael himself. The book was a USA best seller. 'Moonwalk' is no longer in print, so can not be found in regular book stores but may be found in our MJstore subject to availability.

MOONWALKER - THE STORYBOOK

This book was written by Michael Jackson and published by Doubleday in 1988.

This is a children's story based on the short film 'Smooth Criminal' (from the film Moonwalker) in which Michael's friend Katy is kidnapped by the evil 'Mr. Big' who is planning on getting the children of the world addicted to drugs. Michael and his friends Sean and Zeke must save Katy and stop Mr. Big before it's too late.

'Moonwalker - The Storybook' includes over 50 full color photos from the short film 'Smooth Criminal'.

DANCING THE DREAM

This book was published by Doubleday in 1992 and was written by Michael Jackson.

The book contains 28 essays and reflections, 17 poems, 84 color and black and white photographs, and 20 pieces of other artists artwork. Michael writes on topics such as creating his dance and music, children, religion, life, love, and autobiographical reflections.

'Dancing the Dream' is no longer in print, and so can not be found in regular book stores but may be found subject to current availability in our own MJStore.

MY WORLD: The Official Photobook

Released in 2006. An insight into the world of Michael Jackson through some of his private photos and thoughts. Also includes copies of his hand written lyrics to some of his biggest hits from the 1980's and 90's.

- Michael Jackson Books

Biografi Lengkap PRAMOEDYA AT

Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Dari Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

Pramoedya Ananta Toer (Blora, Jawa Tengah 6 Februari 1925 – Jakarta 30 April 2006) secara luas dianggap sebagai salah satu pengarang yang produktif dalam sejarah sastra Indonesia. Pramoedya telah menghasilkan lebih dari 50 karya dan diterjemahkan ke dalam lebih dari 41 bahasa asing.

Masa Kecil

Pramoedya dilahirkan di Blora, di jantung Pulau Jawa, pada 1925 sebagai anak sulung dalam keluarganya. Ayahnya adalah seorang guru, sedangkan ibunya berdagang nasi.

Nama asli Pramoedya adalah Pramoedya Ananta Mastoer, sebagaimana yang tertulis dalam koleksi cerita pendek semi-otobiografinya yang berjudul Cerita Dari Blora. Karena nama keluarga Mastoer (nama ayahnya) dirasakan terlalu aristokratik, ia menghilangkan awalan Jawa "Mas" dari nama tersebut dan menggunakan "Toer" sebagai nama keluarganya.

Pramoedya menempuh pendidikan pada Sekolah Kejuruan Radio di Surabaya, dan kemudian bekerja sebagai juru ketik untuk surat kabar Jepang di Jakarta selama pendudukan Jepang di Indonesia.

Pasca Kemerdekaan Indonesia

Pada masa kemerdekaan Indonesia, ia mengikuti kelompok militer di Jawa dan kerap ditempatkan di Jakarta pada akhir perang kemerdekaan. Ia menulis cerpen serta buku di sepanjang karir militernya dan ketika dipenjara Belanda di Jakarta pada 1948 dan 1949. Pada 1950-an ia tinggal di Belanda sebagai bagian dari program pertukaran budaya, dan ketika kembali ke Indonesia ia menjadi anggota Lekra, salah satu organisasi sayap kiri di Indonesia. Gaya penulisannya berubah selama masa itu, sebagaimana yang ditunjukkan dalam karyanya Korupsi, fiksi kritik pada pamong praja yang jatuh di atas perangkap korupsi. Hal ini menciptakan friksi antara dia dan pemerintahan Soekarno.

Selama masa itu, ia mulai mempelajari penyiksaan terhadap Tionghoa Indonesia, kemudian pada saat yang sama, ia pun mulai berhubungan erat dengan para penulis di Tiongkok. Khususnya, ia menerbitkan rangkaian surat-menyurat dengan penulis Tionghoa yang membicarakan sejarah Tionghoa di Indonesia, berjudul Hoakiau di Indonesia. Ia merupakan kritikus yang tak mengacuhkan pemerintahan Jawa-sentris pada keperluan dan keinginan dari daerah lain di Indonesia, dan secara terkenal mengusulkan bahwa pemerintahan mesti dipindahkan ke luar Jawa. Pada 1960-an ia ditahan pemerintahan Soeharto karena pandangan pro-Komunis Tiongkoknya. Bukunya dilarang dari peredaran, dan ia ditahan tanpa pengadilan di Nusakambangan di lepas pantai Jawa, dan akhirnya di pulau Buru di kawasan timur Indonesia.

Penahanan dan Masa Setelahnya

Selain pernah ditahan selama 3 tahun pada masa kolonial dan 1 tahun pada masa Orde Lama, selama masa Orde Baru Pramoedya merasakan 14 tahun ditahan sebagai tahanan politik tanpa proses pengadilan.

• 13 Oktober 1965 - Juli 1969
• Juli 1969 - 16 Agustus 1969 di Pulau Nusakambangan
• Agustus 1969 - 12 November 1979 di Pulau Buru
• November - 21 Desember 1979 di Magelang

Ia dilarang menulis selama masa penahanannya di Pulau Buru, namun tetap mengatur untuk menulis serial karya terkenalnya yang berjudul Bumi Manusia, serial 4 kronik novel semi-fiksi sejarah Indonesia. Tokoh utamanya Minke, bangsawan kecil Jawa, dicerminkan pada pengalaman RM Tirto Adisuryo seorang tokoh pergerakkan pada jaman kolonial yang mendirikan organisasi Sarekat Priyayi dan diakui oleh Pramoedya sebagai organisasi nasional pertama. Jilid pertamanya dibawakan secara oral pada para kawan sepenjaranya, dan sisanya diselundupkan ke luar negeri untuk dikoleksi pengarang Australia dan kemudian diterbitkan dalam bahasa Inggris dan Indonesia.

Pramoedya dibebaskan dari tahanan pada 21 Desember 1979 dan mendapatkan surat pembebasan secara hukum tidak bersalah dan tidak terlibat G30S/PKI, tapi masih dikenakan tahanan rumah di Jakarta hingga 1992, serta tahanan kota dan tahanan negara hingga 1999, dan juga wajib lapor satu kali seminggu ke Kodim Jakarta Timur selama kurang lebih 2 tahun.

Selama masa itu ia menulis Gadis Pantai, novel semi-fiksi lainnya berdasarkan pengalaman neneknya sendiri. Ia juga menulis Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu (1995), otobiografi berdasarkan tulisan yang ditulisnya untuk putrinya namun tak diizinkan untuk dikirimkan, dan Arus Balik (1995).

Kontroversi

Ketika Pramoedya mendapatkan Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1995, diberitakan sebanyak 26 tokoh sastra Indonesia menulis surat 'protes' ke yayasan Ramon Magsaysay. Mereka tidak setuju, Pramoedya yang dituding sebagai "jubir sekaligus algojo Lekra paling galak, menghantam, menggasak, membantai dan mengganyang" di masa demokrasi terpimpin, tidak pantas diberikan hadiah dan menuntut pencabutan penghargaan yang dianugerahkan kepada Pramoedya.

Tetapi beberapa hari kemudian, Taufik Ismail sebagai pemrakarsa, meralat pemberitaan itu. Katanya, bukan menuntut 'pencabutan', tetapi mengingatkan 'siapa Pramoedya itu'. Katanya, banyak orang tidak mengetahui 'reputasi gelap' Pram dulu. Dan pemberian penghargaan Magsaysay dikatakan sebagai suatu kecerobohan. Tetapi di pihak lain, Mochtar Lubis malah mengancam mengembalikan hadiah Magsaysay yang dianugerahkan padanya di tahun 1958, jika Pram tetap akan dianugerahkan hadiah yang sama.

Lubis juga mengatakan, HB Jassin pun akan mengembalikan hadiah Magsaysay yang pernah diterimanya. Tetapi, ternyata dalam pemberitaan berikutnya, HB Jassin malah mengatakan yang lain sama sekali dari pernyataan Mochtar Lubis.

Dalam berbagai opini-opininya di media, para penandatangan petisi 26 ini merasa sebagai korban dari keadaan pra-1965. Dan mereka menuntut pertanggungan jawab Pram, untuk mengakui dan meminta maaf akan segala peran 'tidak terpuji' pada 'masa paling gelap bagi kreativitas' pada jaman Demokrasi Terpimpin. Pram, kata Mochtar Lubis, memimpin penindasan sesama seniman yang tak sepaham dengannya.

Sementara Pramoedya sendiri menilai segala tulisan dan pidatonya di masa pra-1965 itu tidak lebih dari 'golongan polemik biasa' yang boleh diikuti siapa saja. Dia menyangkal terlibat dalam pelbagai aksi yang 'kelewat jauh'. Dia juga merasa difitnah, ketika dituduh ikut membakar buku segala. Bahkan dia menyarankan agar perkaranya dibawa ke pengadilan saja jika memang materi cukup. Kalau tidak cukup, bawa ke forum terbuka, katanya, tetapi dengan ketentuan saya boleh menjawab dan membela diri, tambahnya.

Semenjak Orde Baru berkuasa, Pramoedya tidak pernah mendapat kebebasan menyuarakan suaranya sendiri, dan telah beberapa kali dirinya diserang dan dikeroyok secara terbuka di koran.

Tetapi dalam pemaparan pelukis Joko Pekik, yang juga pernah menjadi tahanan di Pulau Buru, ia menyebut Pramoedya sebagai 'juru-tulis'. Pekerjaan juru-tulis yang dimaksud oleh Joko Pekik adalah Pramoedya mendapat 'pekerjaan' dari petugas Pulau Buru sebagai tukang ketiknya mereka. Bahkan menurut Joko Pekik, nasib Pramoedya lebih baik dari umumnya tahanan yang ada. Statusnya sebagai tokoh seniman yang oleh media disebar-luaskan secara internasional, menjadikan dia hidup dengan fasilitas yang lumayan - apalagi kalau ada tamu dari 'luar' yang datang pasti Pramoedya akan menjadi 'bintangnya'.

Masa Tua

Pramoedya telah menulis banyak kolom dan artikel pendek yang mengkritik pemerintahan Indonesia terkini. Ia menulis buku Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkraman Militer, dokumentasi yang ditulis dalam gaya menyedihkan para wanita Jawa yang dipaksa menjadi wanita penghibur selama masa pendudukan Jepang. Semuanya dibawa ke Pulau Buru di mana mereka mengalami kekerasan seksual, mengakhiri tinggal di sana daripada kembali ke Jawa. Pramoedya membuat perkenalannya saat ia sendiri merupakan tahanan politik di Pulau Buru selama masa 1970-an.

Banyak dari tulisannya menyentuh tema interaksi antarbudaya; antara Belanda, kerajaan Jawa, orang Jawa secara umum, dan Tionghoa. Banyak dari tulisannya juga semi-otobiografi, di mana ia menggambar pengalamannya sendiri. Ia terus aktif sebagai penulis dan kolumnis.

Ia memperoleh Ramon Magsaysay Award untuk Jurnalisme, Sastra, dan Seni Komunikasi Kreatif 1995. Ia juga telah dipertimbangkan untuk Hadiah Nobel Sastra. Ia juga memenangkan Hadiah Budaya Asia Fukuoka XI 2000 dan pada 2004 Norwegian Authors' Union Award untuk sumbangannya pada sastra dunia. Ia menyelesaikan perjalanan ke Amerika Utara pada 1999 dan memperoleh penghargaan dari Universitas Michigan.

Sampai akhir hayatnya ia aktif menulis, walaupun kesehatannya telah menurun akibat usianya yang lanjut dan kegemarannya merokok. Pada 12 Januari 2006, ia dikabarkan telah dua minggu terbaring sakit di rumahnya di Bojong Gede, Bogor, dan dirawat di rumah sakit. Menurut laporan, Pramoedya menderita diabetes, sesak napas dan jantungnya melemah.

Pada 6 Februari 2006 di Teater Kecil Taman Ismail Marzuki, diadakan pameran khusus tentang sampul buku dari karya Pramoedya. Pameran ini sekaligus hadiah ulang tahun ke-81 untuk Pramoedya. Pameran bertajuk Pram, Buku dan Angkatan Muda menghadirkan sampul-sampul buku yang pernah diterbitkan di mancanegara. Ada sekitar 200 buku yang pernah diterjemahkan ke berbagai bahasa dunia.

Berpulang

Pada 27 April 2006, Pram sempat tak sadar diri. Pihak keluarga akhirnya memutuskan membawa dia ke RS Sint Carolus hari itu juga. Pram didiagnosis menderita radang paru-paru, penyakit yang selama ini tidak pernah menjangkitinya, ditambah komplikasi ginjal, jantung, dan diabetes.

Pram hanya bertahan tiga hari di rumah sakit. Setelah sadar, dia kembali meminta pulang. Meski permintaan itu tidak direstui dokter, Pram bersikeras ingin pulang. Sabtu 29 April, sekitar pukul 19.00, begitu sampai di rumahnya, kondisinya jauh lebih baik. Meski masih kritis, Pram sudah bisa memiringkan badannya dan menggerak-gerakkan tangannya.

Kondisinya sempat memburuk lagi pada pukul 20.00. Pram masih dapat tersenyum dan mengepalkan tangan ketika sastrawan Eka Budianta menjenguknya. Pram juga tertawa saat dibisiki para penggemar yang menjenguknya bahwa Soeharto masih hidup. Kondisi Pram memang sempat membaik, lalu kritis lagi. Pram kemudian sempat mencopot selang infus dan menyatakan bahwa dirinya sudah sembuh. Dia lantas meminta disuapi havermut dan meminta rokok. Tapi, tentu saja permintaan tersebut tidak diluluskan keluarga. Mereka hanya menempelkan batang rokok di mulut Pram tanpa menyulutnya. Kondisi tersebut bertahan hingga pukul 22.00.

Setelah itu, beberapa kali dia kembali mengalami masa kritis. Pihak keluarga pun memutuskan menggelar tahlilan untuk mendoakan Pram. Pasang surut kondisi Pram tersebut terus berlangsung hingga pukul 02.00. Saat itu, dia menyatakan agar Tuhan segera menjemputnya. "Dorong saja saya," ujarnya. Namun, teman-teman dan kerabat yang menjaga Pram tak lelah memberi semangat hidup. Rumah Pram yang asri tidak hanya dipenuhi anak, cucu, dan cicitnya. Tapi, teman-teman hingga para penggemarnya ikut menunggui Pram.

Kabar meninggalnya Pram sempat tersiar sejak pukul 03.00. Tetangga-tetangga sudah menerima kabar duka tersebut. Namun, pukul 05.00, mereka kembali mendengar bahwa Pram masih hidup. Terakhir, ketika ajal menjemput, Pram sempat mengerang, "Akhiri saja saya. Bakar saya sekarang," katanya.

Pada 30 April 2006 pukul 08.55 Pramoedya wafat dalam usia 81 tahun.

Ratusan pelayat tampak memenuhi rumah dan pekarangan Pram di Jalan Multikarya II No 26, Utan Kayu, Jakarta Timur. Pelayat yang hadir antara lain Sitor Situmorang, Erry Riyana Hardjapamekas, Nurul Arifin dan suami, Usman Hamid, Putu Wijaya, Goenawan Mohamad, Gus Solah, Ratna Sarumpaet, Budiman Sujatmiko, serta puluhan aktivis, sastrawan, dan cendekiawan. Hadir juga Menteri Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Jero Wacik. Terlihat sejumlah karangan bunga tanda duka, antara lain dari KontraS, Wapres Jusuf Kalla, artis Happy Salma, pengurus DPD PDI Perjuangan, Dewan Kesenian Jakarta, dan lain-lain. Teman-teman Pram yang pernah ditahan di Pulau Buru juga hadir melayat. Temasuk para anak muda fans Pram.

Jenazah dimandikan pukul 12.30 WIB, lalu disalatkan. Setelah itu, dibawa keluar rumah untuk dimasukkan ke ambulans yang membawa Pram ke TPU Karet Bivak. Terdengar lagu Internationale dan Darah Juang dinyanyikan di antara pelayat.

Penghargaan

• Freedom to Write Award dari PEN American Center, AS, 1988
• Penghargaan dari The Fund for Free Expression, New York, AS, 1989
• Wertheim Award, "for his meritorious services to the struggle for emancipation of Indonesian people", dari The Wertheim Fondation, Leiden, Belanda, 1995
• Ramon Magsaysay Award, "for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Arts, in recognation of his illuminating with briliant stories the historical awakening, and modern experience of Indonesian people", dari Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, Manila, Filipina, 1995
• UNESCO Madanjeet Singh Prize, "In recognition of his outstanding contribution to the promotion of tolerance and non-violance" dari UNESCO, Perancis, 1996
• Doctor of Humane Letters, "In recognition of his remarkable imagination and distinguished literary contributions, his example to all who oppose tyranny, and his highly principled struggle for intellectual freedom" dari Universitas Michigan, Madison, AS, 1999
• Chancellor's distinguished Honor Award, "for his outstanding literary archievements and for his contributions to ethnic tolerance and global understanding", dari Universitas California, Berkeley, AS, 1999
• Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Letters, dari Le Ministre de la Culture et de la Communication Republique, Paris, Perancis, 1999
• New York Foundation for the Arts Award, New York, AS, 2000
• Fukuoka Cultural Grand Prize (Hadiah Budaya Asia Fukuoka), Jepang, 2000
• The Norwegian Authors Union, 2004
• Centenario Pablo Neruda, Chili, 2004

Lain-Lain

• Anggota Nederland Center, ketika masih di Pulau Buru, 1978
• Anggota kehormatan seumur hidup dari International PEN Australia Center, 1982
• Anggota kehormatan PEN Center, Swedia, 1982
• Anggota kehormatan PEN American Center, AS, 1987
• Deutschsweizeriches PEN member, Zentrum, Swiss, 1988
• International PEN English Center Award, Inggris, 1992
• International PEN Award Association of Writers Zentrum Deutschland, Jerman, 1999

Bibliografi

Kecuali judul pertama, semua judul sudah disesuaikan ke dalam Ejaan Yang Disempurnakan.

• Sepoeloeh Kepala Nica (1946), hilang di tangan penerbit Balingka, Pasar Baru, Jakarta, 1947
• Kranji–Bekasi Jatuh (1947), fragmen dari Di Tepi Kali Bekasi
• Perburuan (1950), pemenang sayembara Balai Pustaka, Jakarta, 1949
• Keluarga Gerilya (1950)Subuh (1951), kumpulan 3 cerpen
• Percikan Revolusi (1951), kumpulan cerpen
• Mereka yang Dilumpuhkan (I & II) (1951)
• Bukan Pasarmalam (1951)
• Di Tepi Kali Bekasi (1951), dari sisa naskah yang dirampas Marinir Belanda pada 22 Juli 1947
• Dia yang Menyerah (1951), kemudian dicetak ulang dalam kumpulan cerpen
• Cerita dari Blora (1952), pemenang karya sastra terbaik dari Badan Musyawarah Kebudayaan Nasional, Jakarta, 1953
• Gulat di Jakarta (1953)
• Midah Si Manis Bergigi Emas (1954)
• Korupsi (1954)
• Mari Mengarang (1954), tak jelas nasibnya di tangan penerbit
• Cerita Dari Jakarta (1957)
• Cerita Calon Arang (1957)
• Sekali Peristiwa di Banten Selatan (1958)
• Panggil Aku Kartini Saja (I & II, 1963; III & IV dibakar Angkatan Darat pada 13 Oktober 1965
• Kumpulan Karya Kartini, yang pernah diumumkan di berbagai media; dibakar Angkatan Darat pada 13 Oktober 1965
• Wanita Sebelum Kartini; dibakar Angkatan Darat pada 13 Oktober 1965
• Gadis Pantai (1962-65) dalam bentuk cerita bersambung, bagian pertama triologi tentang keluarga Pramoedya; terbit sebagai buku, 1987; dilarang Jaksa Agung. Jilid II & III dibakar Angkatan Darat pada 13 Oktober 1965
• Sejarah Bahasa Indonesia. Satu Percobaan (1964); dibakar Angkatan Darat pada 13 Oktober 1965
• Realisme Sosialis dan Sastra Indonesia (1963)
• Lentera (1965), tak jelas nasibnya di tangan penerbit
• Bumi Manusia (1980); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1981
• Anak Semua Bangsa (1981); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1981
• Sikap dan Peran Intelektual di Dunia Ketiga (1981)
• Tempo Doeloe (1982), antologi sastra pra-Indonesia
• Jejak Langkah (1985); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1985
• Sang Pemula (1985); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1985
• Hikayat Siti Mariah, (ed.) Hadji Moekti, (1987); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1987
• Rumah Kaca (1988); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1988
• Memoar Oei Tjoe Tat, (ed.) Oei Tjoe Tat, (1995); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1995
• Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu I (1995); dilarang Jaksa Agung, 1995
• Arus Balik (1995)
• Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu II (1997)
• Arok Dedes (1999)Mangir (2000)
• Larasati (2000)
• Jalan Raya Pos, Jalan Daendels (2005)

Buku tentang Pramoedya dan Karyanya

• Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Karja Seninja, oleh Bahrum Rangkuti (Penerbit Gunung Agung)
• Citra Manusia Indonesia dalam Karya Pramoedya Ananta Toer, oleh A. Teeuw (Pustaka Jaya)
• Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Sastra Realisme Sosialis, oleh Eka Kurniawan (Gramedia Pustaka Utama)
• Membaca Katrologi Bumi Manusia Pramoedya Ananta Toer, oleh Apsanti Djokosujatno (Tera Indonesia)
• Pramoedya Ananta Toer dan Manifestasi Karya Sastra, Daniel Mahendra, dkk (Penerbit Malka)

- Biografi Lengkap PRAMOEDYA AT

Biography of Pramoedya AT

Pramoedya Ananta Toer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pramoedya Ananta Toer (6 February 1925 – 30 April 2006) was an Indonesian author of novels, short stories, essays, polemic and histories of his homeland and its people. His works span the colonial period, Indonesia's struggle for independence, the occupation by Japan during WWII, as well as the post-colonial authoritarian regimes of Sukarno and Suharto and are infused with personal and national history.

Pramoedya's writings sometimes fell out of favor with the colonial and later the authoritarian native governments in power. Pramoedya faced censorship in Indonesia during the pre-reformation era even as his renown outside Indonesia was growing. During the changeover to the Suharto regime Pramoedya was caught up in the shifting tides of political change and power struggles in Indonesia. He was seen as a holdover from the previous regime (even though he had struggled with the former regime as well) and was banished for years to Buru island where political prisoners were kept and where he composed his most famous work the Buru Quartet as an epic he recited orally to other prisoners, before it was written down and smuggled out.

Toer opposed some policies of both founding president Sukarno, as well as those of its successor, the New Order regime of Suharto, but the political criticisms are often subtle in his writing, though he was outspoken against colonialism and racism. During the many years in which he suffered imprisonment and house arrest, he became a cause célèbre for advocates of freedom of expression and human rights.

Early Years

Pramoedya was born on February 6, 1925, in the town of Blora in the heartland of Java, then a part of the Dutch East Indies. He was the firstborn son in his family; his father was a teacher, who was also active in Boedi Oetomo (the first recognized national organization in Indonesia) and his mother was a rice trader. His maternal grandfather had taken the pilgrimage to Mecca.[2] As it is written in his semi-autobiographical collection of short stories "Cerita Dari Blora", the name was actually Pramoedya Ananta Mastoer. But he felt that the family name Mastoer (his father's name) seemed too aristocratic. The Javanese prefix "Mas" refers to a man of the lowest rank in a noble family. Consequently he omitted "Mas" and kept Toer as his family name. He went on to the Radio Vocational School in Surabaya but had barely graduated from the school when Japan invaded Surabaya (1942).

During World War II, Pramoedya (like many Indonesian Nationalists, Sukarno and Suharto among them) at first supported the occupying forces of Imperial Japan. He believed the Japanese to be the lesser of two evils, compared to the Dutch. He worked as a typist for a Japanese newspaper in Jakarta. As the war went on, however, Indonesians were dismayed by the austerity of wartime rationing and by increasingly harsh measures taken by the Japanese military. The Nationalist forces loyal to Sukarno switched their support to the incoming Allies against Japan; all indications are that Pramoedya did as well.

On August 17, 1945, after the news of Allied victory over Japan reached Indonesia, Sukarno proclaimed Indonesian independence. This touched off the Indonesian National Revolution against the forces of the British and Dutch. In this war, Pramoedya joined a paramilitary group in Karawang, Kranji (West Java) and eventually was stationed in Jakarta. During this time he wrote short stories and books, as well as propaganda for the Nationalist cause. He was eventually imprisoned by the Dutch in Jakarta in 1947 and remained there until 1949, the year the Netherlands recognized Indonesian independence. While imprisoned in Bukit Duri from 1947 to 1949 for his role in the Indonesian Revolution, he wrote his first major novel The Fugitive.

Post-Independence Prominence

In the first years after the struggle for independence, Pramoedya wrote several works of fiction dealing with the problems of the newly founded nation, as well as semi-autobiographical works based on his wartime memoirs. He was soon able to live in the Netherlands as part of a cultural exchange program. In the years that followed, he took an interest in several other cultural exchanges, including trips to the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China, as well as translations of Russian writers Maxim Gorky and Leo Tolstoy.

In Indonesia, Pramoedya built up a reputation as a literary and social critic, joining the left-wing writers' group Lekra and writing in various newspapers and literary journals. His writing style became more politically charged, as evidenced in his story Korupsi (Corruption), a critical fiction of a civil servant who falls into the trap of corruption. This created friction between him and the government of Sukarno.

From the late 1950s, Pramoedya began teaching literary history at the left-wing Universitas Res Publica. As he prepared material, he began to realise that the study of Indonesian language and literature had been distorted by the Dutch colonial authorities. He sought out materials that had been ignored by colonial educational institutions, and which had continued to be ignored after independence.

Having spent time in China, he became greatly sympathetic to the Indonesian Chinese over the persecutions they faced in postcolonial Indonesia. Most notably, he published a series of letters addressed to an imagined Chinese correspondent discussing the history of the Indonesian Chinese, called Hoakiau di Indonesia (History of the Overseas Chinese in Indonesia). He criticized the government for being too Java-centric and insensitive to the needs and desires of the other regions and peoples of Indonesia. As a result, he was arrested by the Indonesian military and jailed at Cipinang prison for nine months.

Imprisonment under Suharto

In October 1965 there was a coup and the army took power after alleging that the assassination of several senior generals was masterminded by the Communist Party of Indonesia. The transition to Suharto's New Order followed, and Pramoedya's position as the head of People's Cultural Organisation, a literary wing of the Indonesian Communist Party caused him to be considered a communist and enemy of the "New Order" regime. During the violent anti-Communist purge, he was arrested, beaten, and imprisoned by Suharto's government and named a tapol ("political prisoner"). His books were banned from circulation, and he was imprisoned without trial, first in Nusa Kambangan off the coast of Java, and then in the penal colony of Buru in the eastern islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

He was banned from writing during his imprisonment on the island of Buru, but still managed to compose - orally - his best-known series of work to date, the Buru Quartet, a series of four historical fiction novels chronicling the development of Indonesian nationalism and based in part on his own experiences growing up. The English titles of the books in the quartet are This Earth of Mankind, Child of All Nations, Footsteps, and House of Glass. The main character of the series, Minke, a Javanese minor royal, was based in part on an Indonesian journalist active in the nationalist movement, Tirto Adhi Surjo.

The quartet includes strong female characters of Indonesian and Chinese ethnicity, and address the discriminations and indignities of living under colonial rule, the struggle for personal and national political independence. Like much of Pramoedya's work they tell personal stories and focus on individuals caught up in the tide of a nation's history.

Pramoedya had done research for the books before his imprisonment in the Buru prison camp. When he was arrested his library was burned and much of his collection and early writings were lost. On the prison colony island of Buru he was not permitted even to have a pencil. Doubting that he would ever be able to write the novels down himself, he narrated them to his fellow prisoners. With the support of the other prisoners who took on extra labor to reduce his workload, Pramoedya was eventually able to write the novels down, and the published works derive their name "Buru Quartet" from the prison where he produced them. They have been collected and published in English (translated by Max Lane) and Indonesian, as well as many other languages. Though the work is considered a classic by many outside of Indonesia, publication was banned in Indonesia causing one of the most famous of Indonesia's literary works to be largely unavailable to the country's people whose history it addressed. Copies were scanned by Indonesians abroad and distributed via the Internet to people inside the country.

Pramoedya's works on colonial Indonesia recognised the importance of Islam as a vehicle for popular opposition to the Dutch, but his works are not overtly religious. He rejected those who used religion to deny critical thinking, and on occasion wrote with considerable negativity to the religiously pious. One author has speculated this may have resulted from a low number of Hajjis in his native Blora and resentment of his Haji grandfather's divorce and abandonment of his grandmother.

Release and Subsequent Works

Pramoedya was released from imprisonment in 1979, but remained under house arrest in Jakarta until 1992. During this time he released The Girl From the Coast, another semi-fictional novel based on his grandmother's own experience (volumes 2 and 3 of this work were destroyed along with his library in 1965). He also wrote Nyanyi Sunyi Seorang Bisu (1995); A Mute's Soliloquy), an autobiography based on the letters that he wrote for his daughter from imprisonment in Buru but were not allowed to be sent, and Arus Balik (1995).

He wrote many columns and short articles criticizing the Indonesian government. He wrote a book Perawan Remaja dalam Cengkraman Militer (Young Virgins in the Military's Grip), a documentary written in the style of a novel showcasing the plight of Javanese women who were forced to become comfort women during the Japanese occupation. They were brought to the island of Buru where they were sexually abused, and ended up staying there instead of returning to Java. Pramoedya made their acquaintance when he himself was a political prisoner on the Buru island in the 1970s.

Pramoedya was hospitalized on April 27th 2006, for complications brought on by diabetes and heart disease. He was also a heavy smoker of clove cigarettes and had endured years of abuse while in detention. He died on April 30th 2006 at the age of 81. Pramoedya earned several accolades, and was frequently discussed as Indonesia's and Southeast Asia's best candidate for a Nobel Prize in Literature.

Pramoedya's writings on Indonesia are not unlike those of Salman Rushdie's on India in addressing the international and regional currents caused by political events in history and how these events flowed through his homeland and buffered its people. Pramoedya also shares a personal history of hardship and detention for his efforts of self-expression and the political aspects of his writings, and struggled against the censorship of his work by the leaders of his own people.

Notes

Javanese do not have surnames in the Western sense. Toer is not Pramoedya's family name, and usually he is formally addressed as only Mr Pramoedya.Vickers, Adrian (2005). A History of Modern Indonesia. New York: Cambridge University Press, p.53. ISBN 0-521-54262-2.

- Biography of Pramoedya AT

Biographical Article: PRAMOEDYA

Biographical Article: PRAMOEDYA ANANTA TOER

"I'm bored with being an author," Pramoedya Ananta Toer pronounced in late 1984. Properly, he said, he should have just been a farmer, like his childhood aspirations. However, he was still carrying out his "duty to report" after having been released from Buru Island for around five years. Pram it seems has no skills aside from writing. Now he is preparing a Geographical Dictionary.

Pram is driven to compile the dictionary, they say, because no other writer has done anything like it. But that is probably not the only reason. After his novels The Human Earth and Child of All Nations, which he wrote in Buru, were prohibited from circulating, writing a dictionary was in fact safer.

His father, Toer, a former teacher and activist with the Blora branch of the PNI who was also a writer, seems to have had a lot of influence on Pram's perspective. Besides, Pram once went to school at the Taman Siswa, which was nationalist in conception. Beginning with his appearance through the short story "Kemana" in the magazine Pancaraya, 1947, Pram's name grew prominent with the novel Kranji-Bekasi Jatuh in the same year. Also that year he finished Sepuluh Kepala Nica, which was lost in the hands of Balingka Publishers, Pasar Baru, Jakarta.

A former second lieutenant in the Siliwangi Division, Pramoedya was later imprisoned in Bukit Duri jail, Jakarta (1948-1949). It was there that he wrote the short story collection Percikan Revolusi and the novel Perburuan (winning First Prize from the Balai Pustaka). On getting out of jail, Pram wrote the short story "Mereka yang Dilumpuhkan" [sic: should be "Dia yang Menyerah"] (later included in his Tjerita dari Blora), which won the BMKN prize, 1952-1953. Later "Bukan Pasar Malam" also appeared.

In 1953 Pram lived in the Netherlands along with his family at the invitation of the Dutch-Indonesian Institute for Cultural Cooperation, Sticusa. There he wrote Korupsi and Midah si Manis Bergigi Emas. Up through 1960, he was less productive, with the exception of Sekali Peristiwa di Banten Selaten, but its quality was below par. After that he began to take interest in historical matters. Panggil Aku Kartini Saja, I and II were born.

There are some who consider Pram's greatness derives from his books Bumi Manusia, Anak Semua Bangsa, Jejak Langkah [and Rumah Kaca]. "Criticism's matchmaker-ism, isn't it," he says indifferently. He avoids commenting on the works of other authors, except to say, "I need reading that provides 'vitamins' for my life."

Living in the house his wife built while he was in Buru, Pram seems mostly to wallow in his book-filled study. He is a heavy smoker.

For the original Indonesian, see: Apa dan Siapa: Pramudya at Tempo Interaktif Translation ©1996 Alex G Bardsley

- Biographical Article: PRAMOEDYA

Stephen King

THE FACT ABOUT STEPHEN KING

Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author, screenwriter, musician, columnist, actor, film producer and director. Having sold an estimated 300-350 million copies of his books, King is best known for his work in horror fiction, in which he demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the genre's history. He has also written science fiction, fantasy, short-fiction, non-fiction, screenplays, teleplays and stageplays. Many of his stories have been adapted for other media, including movies, television series and comic books. King has written a number of books using the pen name Richard Bachman and one short story where he was credited as John Swithen. In 2003 he received The National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters.

Early Life

Stephen King was born in Portland, Maine on September 21, 1947 to Donald Edwin and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. When King was two years old, his father left the family under the pretense of going to buy a pack of cigarettes, leaving his mother to raise King and his adopted older brother David by herself, sometimes under great financial strain. Nevertheless, King has described his childhood as an innocent time.


The family moved to De Pere, Wisconsin, Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Stratford, Connecticut. When King was eleven years old, the family returned to Durham, Maine, where Ruth King cared for her parents until their deaths. She then became a caterer in a local residential facility for the mentally challenged.

As a child, King apparently witnessed one of his friends being struck and killed by a train, though he has no memory of the event. His family told him that after leaving home to play with the boy, King returned, speechless and seemingly in shock. Only later did the family learn of the friend's death. Some commentators have suggested that this event may have psychologically inspired King's dark, disturbing creations, but King himself has dismissed the idea.

King's primary inspiration for writing horror fiction was related in detail in his 1981 non-fiction Danse Macabre, in a chapter titled "An Annoying Autobiographical Pause". King makes a comparison of his grandfather successfully dowsing for water using the bough of an apple branch with the sudden realization of what he wanted to do for a living. While browsing through an attic with his elder brother, King uncovered a paperback version of an H.P. Lovecraft collection of short stories that had belonged to his father. The cover art—an illustration of a monster hiding within the recesses of a hell-like cavern beneath a tombstone—was, he writes,

“the moment of my life when the dowsing rod suddenly went down hard . . . as far as I was concerned, I was on my way.”

Education and Early Creativity

King attended Durham Elementary School. He displayed an early interest in horror as an avid reader of EC's horror comics, including Tales from the Crypt (he later paid tribute to the comics in his screenplay for Creepshow). He began writing for fun while still in school, contributing articles to Dave's Rag, the newspaper that his brother published with a mimeograph machine and later began selling stories to his friends which were based on movies he had seen (though when discovered by his teachers, he was forced to return the profits).

The first of his stories to be independently published was "I Was a Teenage Grave Robber", serialized over three published and one unpublished issues of a fanzine, Comics Review, in 1965. That story was published the following year in a revised form as "In a Half-World of Terror" in another fanzine, Stories of Suspense, edited by Marv Wolfman.

From 1966, King studied English at the University of Maine, where he graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Science in English. He wrote a column for the student newspaper, the Maine Campus, titled "King's Garbage Truck", took part in a writing workshop organized by Burton Hatlen, and took odd jobs to pay for his studies, including one at an industrial laundry. He sold his first professional short story, "The Glass Floor", to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. The Fogler Library at UMaine now holds many of King's papers.

After leaving the university, King gained a certificate to teach high school but, being unable to find a teaching post immediately, initially supplemented his laboring wage by selling short stories to men's magazines such as Cavalier. Many of these early stories have been published in the collection "Night Shift". In 1971, King married Tabitha Spruce, a fellow student at the University of Maine whom he had met at the University's Fogler Library. That fall, King was hired as a teacher at Hampden Academy in Hampden, Maine. He continued to contribute short stories to magazines and worked on ideas for novels. It was during this time that King developed a drinking problem, which stayed with him for more than a decade.

Success with Carrie

On Mother's Day, 1973, King's novel Carrie was accepted by publishing house Doubleday. King has written how he became so discouraged when trying to develop the idea of a girl with psychic powers into a novel that he threw an early draft in the trash, but his wife, Tabitha, rescued it and encouraged him to finish it. He received a $2,500 advance (not large for a novel, even at that time) but the paperback rights eventually earned $400,000, with half going to the publisher. King and his family relocated to Southern Maine because of his mother's failing health. At this time, he began writing a book titled Second Coming, later titled Jerusalem's Lot, before finally changing the title to 'Salem's Lot (published 1975).

Soon after the release of Carrie in 1974, his mother died of uterine cancer. His Aunt Emrine read the novel to her before she died. King has written of his severe drinking problem at this time, stating that he was drunk while delivering the eulogy at his mother's funeral.

After his mother's death, King and his family moved to Boulder, Colorado, where King wrote The Shining (published 1977). The family returned to western Maine in 1975, where King completed his fourth novel, The Stand (published 1978). In 1977, the family traveled briefly to England, returning to Maine that fall where King began teaching creative writing at the University of Maine. King has kept his primary residence in Maine ever since.

Richard Bachman

In the late 1970s-early 1980s, King published a handful of short novels—Rage (1977), The Long Walk (1979), Road Work (1981), The Running Man (1982) and Thinner (1984)—under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. The idea behind this was largely an experiment to measure for himself whether or not he could replicate his own success again, and allay at least part of the notion inside his own head that popularity might all be just an accident of fate. An alternate (or additional) explanation was because of publishing standards at the time allowing only a single book a year.

The Bachman novels contained hints to the author's actual identity that were picked up on by fans, leading to King's admission of authorship in 1985. King dedicated his 1989 book The Dark Half, about a pseudonym turning on a writer, to "the deceased Richard Bachman", and in 1996, when the Stephen King novel Desperation was released, the companion novel The Regulators carried the "Bachman" byline.

In 2006, during a press conference in London, King declared that he had discovered another Bachman novel, titled Blaze. It was published on June 12, 2007. In fact, the manuscript had been held at King's alma mater, the University of Maine in Orono, for many years and had been covered by numerous King experts. King completely rewrote the 1973 manuscript for its publication.

Confronting Addiction

Shortly after The Tommyknockers publication in 1987, King's family and friends staged an intervention, dumping evidence of his addiction taken from the trash including beer cans, cigarette butts, grams of cocaine, Xanax, Valium, NyQuil, dextromethorphan (cough medicine) and marijuana, on the rug in front of him. As King related in his memoir, he then sought help and quit all forms of drugs and alcohol in the late 1980s, and has remained sober since.

Car accident and Thoughts of Retirement

In the summer of 1999, King had finished the memoir section of On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, but had abandoned the book for nearly eighteen months, unsure of how or whether to proceed.

On June 19, at about 4:30 p.m., he was walking on the shoulder of Route 5, in Center Lovell, Maine. Driver Bryan Smith, distracted by an unrestrained dog moving in the back of his minivan, struck King, who landed in a depression in the ground about 14 feet from the pavement of Route 5. According to Oxford County Sheriff deputy Matt Baker, King was struck from behind and some witnesses said the driver was not speeding or reckless. King's website, however, says King was walking facing traffic.

King was conscious enough to give the deputy phone numbers to contact his family but was in considerable pain. The author was first transported to Northern Cumberland Hospital, in Bridgton, and then flown by helicopter to Central Maine Hospital, in Lewiston. His injuries—a collapsed right lung, multiple fractures of his right leg, scalp laceration and a broken hip—kept him in Central Maine Medical Center until July 9, almost three weeks.

Earlier that year, King had finished most of From a Buick 8, a novel in which a character dies after getting struck by a car. Of the similarities, King says that he tries "not to make too much of it."

After five operations in ten days and physical therapy, King resumed work on On Writing in July, though his hip was still shattered and he could only sit for about forty minutes before the pain became intolerable.

King's lawyer and two others purchased Smith's van for $1,500, reportedly to prevent it from appearing on eBay. The van was later crushed at a junkyard after King had severely beaten it with a baseball bat. King later mentioned during an interview with Fresh Air's Terry Gross that he wanted to completely destroy the vehicle himself with a sledgehammer.

A fictionalized account of the accident was written into the last novel of the "Dark Tower" series. Parts of the conversation between Smith and King, as he awaited medical attention, were used in the book, as well as an accurate description of the injuries sustained.

Two years later, King suffered severe pneumonia as a direct result of his lung being punctured in the accident. During this time, Tabitha King was inspired to redesign his studio. Stephen visited the space while his books and belongings were packed away. What he saw was an image of what his studio would look like if he died, providing a seed for his novel Lisey's Story.

In 2002, King announced he would stop writing, apparently motivated in part by frustration with his injuries, which had made sitting uncomfortable and reduced his stamina. He has since resumed writing, but states on his website that:

"I'm writing but I'm writing at a much slower pace than previously and I think that if I come up with something really, really good, I would be perfectly willing to publish it because that still feels like the final act of the creative process, publishing it so people can read it and you can get feedback and people can talk about it with each other and with you, the writer, but the force of my invention has slowed down a lot over the years and that's as it should be."

Family Life

King owns two houses, one in Bangor, and one in Center, Lovell, Maine, while he and his wife regularly spend winter in their waterfront mansion located off the Gulf of Mexico, in Sarasota, Florida. He and Tabitha have three children and three grandchildren.


Tabitha King has published nine of her own novels. Both King's sons are published authors: Owen King published his first collection of stories, We're All in This Together: A Novella and Stories, in 2005; Joseph Hillstrom published an award-winning collection of short stories, 20th Century Ghosts, in 2005, and his first novel, Heart-Shaped Box will be adapted by Irish director Neil Jordan for a 2008 Warner Bros release. King's daughter Naomi spent two years as a minister in the Unitarian Universalist Church, in Utica, New York, where she lived with her partner, Rev. Dr. Thandeka. Naomi now ministers for the Unitarian Universalist Church of River of Grass, in Plantation, South Florida.

Since 2000

In 2000, King published a serialized novel, The Plant, over the Internet, bypassing print publication. At first it was thought that sales were unsuccessful and he abandoned the project, but King later revealed that he simply ran out of stories.

Since August 2003, King has provided his take on pop culture in a column appearing on the back page of Entertainment Weekly, usually every third week. The column is called "The Pop of King", a reference to "The King of Pop", Michael Jackson.

In October 2005, King signed a deal with Marvel Comics to publish a seven-issue, miniseries spin-off of The Dark Tower series called The Gunslinger Born. The series, which focuses on a young Roland Deschain, is plotted by Robin Furth, dialogued by Peter David, and illustrated by Eisner Award-winning artist Jae Lee. The first issue was published on February 7, 2007, and because of its connection with King, David, Lee and Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada appeared at a midnight signing at a Times Square, New York comic book store to promote it. The work had sold over 200,000 copies by March 2007.

On February 14, 2007, Joblo.com announced[20] that plans were underway for Lost co-creator J. J. Abrams to do an adaptation of King's epic Dark Tower series.

In June 2007, King's novel Blaze, which was written in the early 1970s, under his long-time pseudonym Richard Bachman, was published. A novel, Duma Key was published in January 2008; and King has written a musical play with John Mellencamp titled Ghost Brothers of Darkland County.

On April 20, 2007, King commented on the Virginia Tech massacre in Entertainment Weekly.

On August 15, 2007, King was mistaken for a vandal in an Alice Springs bookstore. King was signing books authored by himself when a customer reported there was a vandal scribbling in volumes in the fiction section.

During the 2008 presidential election, King voiced his support of Democratic candidate (new President as of January) Barack Obama.

A controversy emerged on May 5, 2008, when a conservative blogger posted a clip of King at a Library of Congress reading event. King, talking to high-school students, had said: "If you can read, you can walk into a job later on. If you don't, then you've got the Army, Iraq, I don't know, something like that."The comment was described by the blog as "another in a long line of liberal media members bashing the military," and likened to John Kerry's similar remark from 2006. King responded later that day, saying, "That a right-wing-blog would impugn my patriotism because I said children should learn to read, and could get better jobs by doing so, is beneath contempt...I live in a national guard town, and I support our troops, but I don’t support either the war or educational policies that limit the options of young men and women to any one career—military or otherwise." King again defended his comment in an interview with the Bangor Daily News on May 8, saying, "I’m not going to apologize for promoting that kids get better education in high school, so they have more options. Those that don’t agree with what I’m saying, I’m not going to change their minds."

King's latest short stories collection titled Just After Sunset was released on November 11, 2008. It features 13 short stories.

King is currently working on a new novel entitled Under the Dome, a reworking of an unfinished novel he tried writing twice in the 1980s, to be published in 2009.

King recently released N., a novella that is featured in Just After Sunset, as a serialised animated series that can be seen for free, or, for a small payment, can be downloaded in a higher quality.

There are rumors, but as yet unconfirmed, that King's future project will be the third Talisman book. This would follow The Talisman and Black House, and would likely be co-written again with Peter Straub.

- Stephen King