Maus a Survivors Tale: My Father Bleeds History

Rating:
Summary: Truth and Art
Review: I feel I nearly missed something important, only recently learning (on NPR) about Art Spiegelman and his graphic novels. I heard of his newest work, In the Shadow of No Towers, but it was the story of his parents, the Holocaust survivors, that attracted me. The words in the title, My Father Bleeds History, provide insight into the depth of the artist and the effect his father's experience had on his own life. The magic of this book is in the details of history told through one family's personal experience. It is the most powerful book I have ever read. It is also a work of art, cover to cover. Thank you, Mr. Spiegelman. I look forward to reading your other works.

Rating:
Summary: Far from mediocre
Review: A great piece of biography that seemlessly takes the reader from the past to present with a framing narrative that a normal novel could not achieve so effortlessly. The simple, iconic art does wonders for making the story far more accesible than most other stories dealing with similiar content.

I will say, though, that I think the comments about Maus being praised for it's content alone are off base. Maus showed that a graphic novel can take sensitive and real material and put it into a medium that has been relegated to children without actually seeming childish at all.

I also don't think you can go and compare a biography to other graphic works that are fictional, although I would have to say that Watchmen is my favorite comic.

Rating:
Summary: Great
Review: I am combining volumes one and two. Volume one is great and it is no wonder it won a Pulitzer Prize. Even if you are not fond of comics or graphic novels, if you are at all interested in history (or WW2 specifically), you should try this. I enjoyed it enough that I bought both for my mother-in-law, who likes reading non-fiction historical accounts.