@internrachel @julia1
I do most of my reading during my morning commute, and I still get a little embarrassed sometimes when I’m reading a graphic novel on the train because I feel like people around me with less discerning taste might think it’s a kids’ book. One time I had one such graphic novel with me when I stopped by my neighborhood liquor store, a place I came frequently enough and recognized the proprietor. He saw the book when I set it on the counter so I could root through my purse to pay and for the first time asked for my ID.

All of which is to say I just finished Maus Part I: My Father Bleeds History (159 pages but counts for 79) by Art Spiegelman. I did read most of it on the train in spite of myself. I was ready to enjoy but not love Maus, partly because I think Alison Bechdel mastered the whole genre in Fun Home and partly because it’s hard to write a Holocaust story that hasn’t already been told. BUT Maus is fantastic and Spiegelman’s mastery of his particular art is impressive – the book is rich with metaphor and nuance and not absent of humor. He doesn’t shy away from the difficulty of his material, even as he presents his characters as animals in comic book form, and indeed these elements heighten the suspense and tragedy at times.

So, read it.