Morgenstern Bookstore and Café hosted a discussion with author M. T. Anderson on his new book, “Nicked” on Thursday night.
M. T. Anderson is an award-winning author of stories for readers of all ages. He won the National Book Award for his book “The Pox Party” in 2006 and a Newbery Honor Award in 2024 for “Elf Dog & Owl Head.”
His newest book, “Nicked,” is based on the true story of a historical heist that took place in the 11th century. Anderson said he had stumbled across a story of how the corpse of Santa Claus was stolen and decided it needed fictional treatment.
Anderson began the event by introducing himself. Then he shared some of the historical context behind “Nicked.”
“Nicked” is based on the story of two Italian sailors who decided to steal Saint Nicholas’ body. If the heist was successful, it would bring tourism to Italy for those who prayed to the saint, and it was believed the bones of the saint contained a magical liquid. As historical accounts show, Saint Nicholas was a far more bizarre saint than is commonly known. His most famous miracle was resurrecting children killed and cooked in pies by a serial killer. Though most of the book is rooted in historical accounts, some aspects have been fictionalized to make the story feel more like a Hollywood heist movie.
Anderson went on to read aloud from the first page before reading from a portion of the book in which the saint hunter character gives a pitch to the powerful men of Bari, Italy, for why he should be the one to steal Saint Nicholas. Saint hunting, as Anderson explained, was a real medieval profession where people would steal the bodies or other relics of significant figures. However, saint hunters were not widely trusted because of their shifty nature.
On Oct. 24, at the Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts, Anderson was joined by fellow author Tony DiTerlizzi. DiTerlizzi asked Anderson what the hidden theme behind “Nicked” is. Many of his earlier works were satirical and posed questions regarding life. With “Nicked,” Anderson said he wanted to break out of that mold to tell a fun story.
“It’s not only a heist novel about this body, it also turns into a love story by the end,” Anderson said. “I realized that what I think it is about is two competing visions of the body, one in which the body is kind of repulsive and decays, and the other in which the body is beautiful and is the site of love.”
“Nicked” is the first book Anderson has written entirely for adults. What made him switch from stories for children and teens to ones for adults was his own experiences.
“I’m someone who deals with the issues of adulthood and I want to be able to address those,” Anderson said. “I wanted to be able to write something with that full sensibility of an adult and not worry about how a teen audience would react.”
Anderson has, however, been working on a non-fiction version of “Nicked” targeted at teens.
“While doing the research for ‘Nicked,’ I discovered several documents that had never been translated before about this whole event,” Anderson said. “So, I am going to do a non-fiction book about the theft of Santa Claus’ body for teens that tells the real story without all the stuff I made up that goes on around it.”
The relaxed environment was full of laughs among those in attendance. The event concluded with a book signing. “Nicked” can be purchased at Morgenstern’s or Amazon for $28.
