As conversations with non-traditional comic readers go, the term "graphic novel" almost always conjures up Art Spiegelman's Maus, which uses anthropomorphic animals to tell the story of how his father survived the Holocaust. Celebrated in equal parts for its craftsmanship, literary merit and historical importance, Maus is easily one of the most -- if not the most -- important comic works of the past few decades. Exploring its place in his life and its widespread cultural impact around the world, Spiegelman has completed MetaMaus, a 300-page hardcover and DVD set from Pantheon books arriving in stores on October 4. Check out a video trailer for MetaMaus after the jump.
From the official MetaMaus product description:
[Spiegelman] probes the questions that Maus most often evokes-Why the Holocaust? Why mice? Why comics?-and gives us a new and essential work about the creative process.
MetaMaus includes a bonus DVD that provides a digitized reference copy of The Complete Maus linked to a deep archive of audio interviews with his survivor father, historical documents, and a wealth of Spiegelman's private notebooks and sketches.
I love Spiegelman's Breakdowns and Maus, even his sketchbooks, and I do want to read this... but, I'm worried it would take more away from Maus than it would add to it. Especially in the meta aspects of book two - knowing his exact thought process behind those might limit their scope, and change one's own definition of scenes - and that can end up restricting a work.
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