Recommendation: Maus

To my knowledge, only one comic book (or graphic novel, if you prefer) has ever been awarded the Pulitzer prize. It is called Maus by Art Spiegelman, and it is the biographical story of the artist's father, Vladek, who was a Polish Jew sent to Dachau during the Holocaust. The book chronicles his life from the rise of the Nazi party to the closing of the camps by US soldiers.

There are really two stories here. The primary story is the story of Vladek in Poland, but the framing device centers around Art as he is interviewing his father for the book.

Now, to be honest, I haven't read Maus since I was in high school. There are only so many times you want to read about the Holocaust, but what I remember very clearly was the loving, but antogonistic relationship between Art and Vladek and how courageous it was of the writer to expose the flaws in their relationship. In one scene, Vladek talks about a time of infidelity with his former wife (whether he cheated or she did, I don't recall, but clearly, it is a painful memory). Vladek pleads with Art not to include it... and he agrees... yet there it is... complete with his father's plea.

It left an impression.

As you may have noticed, the book uses animals to represent different ethnicities. Jews are represented by mice, Germans are cats, Poles are pigs, French are frogs... I don't really think any of this is racist, but rather uses the child-like iconic qualities as shown in anthropomorphized animals to impart the clear morality of children's tales on a real life atrocity.

There is little else I could say about this book that hasn't been said better by others, but if you want a comic book experience that feels like a classic piece of non-fiction canon, you can't do better than Maus. It is available in two volumes from Amazon.com (I and II) for $10.17 each. I know that violates my "one cheap volume" rule, but I make exceptions for Pulitzer Prize winners. It's also available in one complete edition as well as a two-volume box set, but you will have to search for those on your own.