finished book one of MAUS yesterday. does this book get to more people because it's a holocaust survivor's story or because it's a holocaust survivor's story starring mice? heh. that the father's narrative is framed by the father/stepmother/son interactions gives the tale even more power: reaches an even wider audience. son is alienated from the father. mother is long out of the picture (a suicide). stepmother and father don't get along--they make each other crazy. and here's the son in the middle of it all, trying to figure out how to turn his father's story into a graphic novel. the book is like AMERICAN SPLENDOR in that way; the creation of the book is part of the story within the book. is this really a new trend? or does it just seem new? lots of victorian novels are set up with a frame or are presented as "found" stories; however, the outer narrators or "finders" were usually fictional--not a real character, much less the author himself/herself.
halfway through SANDMAN 8. every one of them i read, i think, "this one is my favorite." but. i really might mean it this time.