Jay Asher
Jay Asher at the 2011 Texas Book Festival.
Born	(1975-09-30) September 30, 1975 (age 36) Arcadia, California, United States
Occupation	Novelist
Nationality	American
Genres	Young Adult
Influences Chris Crutcher
www.thirteenreasonswhy.com

Jay Asher is an American writer of contemporary novels for teens. He has one major publication in the genre of young adult literature.

Biography[link]

Jay Asher was born in Arcadia, California on September 30, 1975. He grew up in a family that encouraged all of his interests, from playing the guitar to his writing. He attended College right after graduating from San Luis Obispo High School. It was here where he wrote his first two children’s books for a class called Children’s Literature Appreciation. After high school, he decided he wanted to become an elementary school teacher. He then transferred to California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo where he left his senior year in order to pursue his career as a serious writer. He is married. Throughout his life he worked in various establishments, including as a salesman in a shoe store and in libraries and bookstores.^[1] Many of his work experiences had an impact on some aspect of his writing.

Career[link]

He has published two books to date, Thirteen Reasons Why, a 2007 New York Times best-selling young-adult fiction novel, and The Future of Us, co written by Carolyn Mackler.

He has written several picture books and middle school humor novels. Thirteen Reasons Why has won several awards and has received five stars from Teen Book Review. It also has received high praise from fellow authors such as Ellen Hopkins, Sherman Alexie, and Chris Crutcher,^[2] and Gordon Korman.

Asher is a fan of the TV series My So-Called Life.^[3] He cites it as a major influence on his work.

Published works[link]

• Thirteen Reasons Why (2007). This is the story of Hannah Baker, a girl who committed suicide. She reveals her thirteen reasons for her decision in a series of seven audio tapes mailed to a classmate with instructions to pass them from one student to another, in the style of a chain letter. Through Hannah's recorded voice, her classmates learn the reasons why Hannah decides to take her own life. Besides Hannah, the reader also sees the story through the eyes of Clay Jensen, one of the recipients of the tapes. Asher was inspired to write due to incidents that happened in his high school.

• The Future of Us (2011) This was co-written with Carolyn Mackler. This is the story of Josh and Emma, two teenagers who used to be best friends until a huge misunderstanding. In 1996, Josh helps Emma set up her internet, only to find Facebook - before it has been invented. There, they can see themselves 15 years in the future - status updates, information, friends, etc. Using Facebook, they are able to change their destinies.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official web site of Thirteen Reasons Why, featuring an interactive map of the town
• Disco Mermaids, A blog of three authors Robin Mellom, Jay Asher and Eve Porinchak
• New York Times article on Thirteen Reasons Why
• Play review in Daily Herald

Asher (Hebrew: אָשֵׁר, Modern Asher Tiberian ʼĀšēr), in the Book of Genesis, is the second son of Jacob and Zilpah, and the founder of the Tribe of Asher.

Name[link]

The text of the Torah argues that the name of Asher means happy/blessing, implying a derivation from the Hebrew term osher (with the same meaning); the Torah actually presents this in two variations—beoshri (meaning in my good fortune), and ishsheruni, which textual scholars attribute to different sources—one to the Yahwist and the other to the Elohist.^[1] Many scholars suspect that the name of Asher may have more to do with a deity originally worshipped by the tribe, either Asherah,^[2] or Ashur, the chief Assyrian deity;^[3] the latter possibility is cognate with Asher.^[3]

Biblical narrative[link]

Asher played a role in the plot to sell his brother Joseph into slavery.(Gen. 37:23-36) Asher and his four sons and daughter settled in Canaan.^[2] On his deathbed, Jacob blesses Asher by saying that "his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties"(Genesis 49:20).

The eighth son of the patriarch Jacob, and the traditional progenitor of the tribe Asher. However, some Biblical scholars view this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite confederation.^[4]

Asher is represented as the younger brother of Gad; these two being the sons of Zilpah, the handmaid of Leah (Gen. xxx. 10 et seq., xxxv. 26). The Biblical account shows Zilpah's status as a handmaid change to an actual wife of Jacob Genesis 30:9,13. Her handmaid status is regarded by some biblical scholars as indicating that the authors saw the tribe of Asher as being not of entirely Israelite origin;^[3] scholars believe that Asher consisted of certain clans affiliated with portions of the Israelite tribal confederation, but which were never incorporated into the body politic.^[3]

The Torah states that Asher had four sons and one daughter, who were born in Canaan and migrated with him to Egypt,^[5] with their descendants remaining there until the Exodus;^[6] this seems to be partly contradicted by Egyptian records (assuming a late Exodus date), according to which a group named Aseru, a name from which Asher is probably derived,^[3] were, in the 14th century BC, living in a similar region to Asher's traditional territory, in Canaan.^[3] Asher's daughter, Serah (also transliterated as Serach), is the only granddaughter of Jacob mentioned in the Torah (Gen. 46:17). Her mother is not named; according to classical rabbinical literature, Serach's mother was named Hadurah, and was a descendant of Eber, but although Hadurah was a wife of Asher, it was her second marriage, and Serach's father was actually Hadurah's first husband, who had died.^[7] In classical rabbinical literature, Hadurah's marriage to Asher was his second marriage as well, his first having been to Adon, who was a descendant of Ishmael;^[3] the Book of Jubilees contradicts this, arguing instead that Asher's wife was named Lyon (which probably means dove).^[3]

Asher's sons were: Jimnah, Ishuah, Isui, and Beriah.

In rabbinical literature[link]

According to classical rabbinical literature, Asher had informed his brothers about Reuben's incest with Bilhah, and as a result Asher came to be on bad terms with his brothers, though once Reuben confessed, the brothers realised they had been unjust towards Asher;^[3] Asher's motivation is described, by classical rabbinical sources, as being entirely innocent of evil intent, and always in search of harmony between his brothers.^[3] He was the very one whose endeavor it had always been to reconcile the brothers, especially when they disputed as to who among them was destined to be the ancestor of the priests (Sifre, Deut. 355). In the Test. Patr., Asher, 5, Asher is regarded as the example of a virtuous man who with singlemindedness strives only for the general good.

Asher was born on the 20th of Shevat 2199 (1562 BCE). According to some accounts 20th of Shevat is also the date of his passing.

Asher married twice. His first wife was 'Adon, a great-granddaughter of Ishmael; his second, Hadurah, a granddaughter of Eber and a widow. By her first marriage Hadurah had a daughter Serah, whom Asher treated as affectionately as if she had been of his own flesh and blood, so that the Bible itself speaks of Serah as Asher's daughter ("Sefer ha-Yashar, Wayesheb"). According to the Book of Jubilees (xxxiv. 20), Asher's wife was named "Iyon" (probably, "dove").

Asher's descendants in more than one regard deserved their name ("Asher" meaning "happiness"). The tribe of Asher was the one most blessed with male children (Sifre, l.c.); and its women were so beautiful that priests and princes sought them in marriage (Gen. R. lxxi., end). The abundance of oil in the land possessed by Asher so enriched the tribe that none of them needed to hire a habitation (Gen. R. l.c.); and the soil was so fertile that in times of scarcity, and especially in the Sabbatical year, Asher provided all Israel with olive-oil (Sifre, l.c.; Men. 85b; Targ. Yer. on Deut. xxxiii. 24). The Asherites were also renowned for wisdom (Men. l.c.).J. Sr. L. G.

Scholarly interpretations[link]

A number of scholars have proposed that the tribe of Asher actually originated as the Weshesh group of Sea Peoples^[8][9] - the name Weshesh (or rather Uashesh/Ueshesh - for easy pronunciation, this is usually transcribed into English as Weshesh) can be decomposed as men of Uash in Hebrew, and hence possibly a corruption of Asher.^[10]

Notes[link]

1. ^ Richard Elliott Friedman, Who wrote the Bible?
2. ^ ^{a b} Metzeger, Bruce M. (ed); , Michael D. Coogan (ed) (1993). The Oxford Companion to the Bible. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. pp. 62. ISBN 0-19-504645-5. 
3. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Jewish Encyclopedia
4. ^ Peake's commentary on the Bible
5. ^ Genesis 46:17
6. ^ Book of Exodus
7. ^ Sefer ha Yashar
8. ^ Yigael Yadin And Dan, Why Did He Remain in Ships
9. ^ N. K. Sandars, The Sea Peoples. Warriors of the ancient Mediterranean, 1250-1150 BC. Thames & Hudson,1978
10. ^ Sandars, The Sea Peoples.

Carolyn Mackler (born July 13, 1973 in Manhattan) is an American author of young adult literature. She has written five novels including Love and Other Four-Letter Words, The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, which won the Michael L. Printz award, Vegan Virgin Valentine, Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting...and the Boy Who Changes Everything, Tangled. Her novels are in print in many different countries such as: the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, France, Italy, Korea, the Netherlands, Denmark, Israel, and Indonesia. Mackler has also contributed to many teen magazines including Seventeen, Storyworks, Glamour, Girl's Life, American Girl, and CosmoGIRL!.

Personal life[link]

Mackler was born in Manhattan, but when she was one her parents moved to Greenwich Village, later to Syracuse, New York, and finally to Brockport, New York, which is the setting for many of her novels. Mackler was always interested in writing, and from an early age tested her talent at it. Beginning at age four she created a newspaper with her best friend, recorded stories on a tape recorder, and dictated her stories to her mother who wrote them down for her. She lived in Brockport until leaving for college in 1991. From 1991-1995 she attended Vassar College where she obtained a degree in Art History in 1995. After college, Mackler drifted and lived in Seattle, Washington briefly before returning to New York City in December 1995. In 2003, Mackler married her husband and they now live in an apartment in Manhattan with their two sons.

Career[link]

A few months after returning to New York City, Mackler took an internship at Ms. magazine where she began writing articles and learning about the writing world. However, Mackler was never satisfied with writing for a magazine and in 1997 decided to take a course at NYU entitled Beginning Your Novel. During this time, Mackler began her first draft of Love and Other Four-Letter Words, it was published in 2000 by Random House Children's books. Her second novel The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things was released in 2003, the year Mackler and her husband married. This novel eventually won the Printz award, and the next year Mackler published Vegan Virgin Valentine. Her novel Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting...and the Boy Who Changes Everything was released in August 2007, and Tangled was published in 2009.

Influences[link]

Carolyn Mackler was a self-proclaimed misfit in junior high; she never felt she completely fit in, and this has been a determining factor in her deciding to write young adult novels. Throughout junior high and high school, Mackler read many young adult novels in order to escape the belief that no one understood her. She read voraciously, but among her favorite authors were: Judy Blume, Lois Lowry, M.E. Kerr, and Norma Klein. Mackler writes on her website of the importance of novels for young adults and their influence on her:

"People often ask me now why I write novels for teenagers. Lots of reasons. One of the biggest reasons is that I honestly believe that, along with certain friendships, I was saved by the books I read during those years. They spoke to me in a way that nothing else did. They helped me feel less alone. They made me laugh. They made me feel like there was a world bigger than my high school."

Publications[link]

Novels[link]

• Love and Other Four-Letter Words (2000)
• The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things (2003, Michael L. Printz Honor)
• Vegan Virgin Valentine (2004)
• Guyaholic: A Story of Finding, Flirting, Forgetting...and the Boy Who Changes Everything (2007)
• Tangled (2009)
• The Future of Us (2011) - Co-written with Jay Asher

References[link]

• Carolyn Mackler's Website Retrieved on 2008-03-31