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Oh my! This book makes me want to read every interview with the author that I can find. One article I read credits this book (and two others) with changing the public's perception of comics and potentially starting the use of the term "graphic novel." I have read only one other graphic novel (the beautiful and brilliant Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? by Roz Chast) so I am tremendously under-qualified to review this. I'm not sure what I expected when I picked this up but what I got was a deeply moving story of one man's Holocaust experience that was masterfully written and drawn by his son. Deceptively simplistic, the drawings allow the reader to be in the story...to see life as it was and then the changing conditions, the confusion, the horror, the bunkers. As father and son meet and talk, the drawings seamlessly transition from present day into the past throughout the book, giving a sense that those memories were always near to and part of him. I found it amazing how a well-placed line or dash on the face of a mouse could convey age, joy, sorrow, defeat. The drawings were incredible. I'm certain there are treasures to be found with each reading of this incredible tale.

More than a story of atrocity and survival, this story reveals much about the author's relationship with his dad. An old-fashioned man whose entire history is heartbreaking and his son are divided by cultural and generational differences, estrangement, and misunderstanding of one another, yet they share the devastating loss of Anja and the need to understand her suicide. The author's father, Vladek, is presented in a way that seems unquestionably authentic with character traits both endearing and frustrating. Vladek's syntax and word choices make it so the reader can actually hear his accent, feel his escalating anger at times, understand the disconnect between father and son. What a touching tribute to his father that Art Spiegelman has created in this (presumably) honest portrayal. I cannot begin to imagine the atrocities the elder Spiegelman had endured, nor do I imagine it was easy to live with this man. I fell in love with page 133, on which Vladek tells Artie he will be famous like Walt Disney. There is so much conveyed in those few frames.

I was a junior in high school when this book was published. We were required to read Night by Elie Wiesel (which I re-read and reviewed recently) but up until now, I had not heard of Maus. This was recommended to me by our librarian. When I saw the cover I honestly thought she had lost her mind. I stand humbly corrected. I am running to get the next book, which is the conclusion. I cannot effectively put into words how ingenious this book is.
5 stars.