A big book containing very little This book is very large and quite thick, but since it's been blown up to a huge size and printed on the sort of thick card teething toddler's books are made from, it actually contains very little. The whole thing is completely over produced. Had this been a slim A5 pamphlet costing two or three quid I'd have no complaints, but for it's price and the space it takes up, I think this is very poor value. Mr Spiegelman ruminates briefly on his very tangential experience of 9/11. For such a bulky book and such a... more info
An Extraordinary Chronicle Of Our Time I was deeply moved by Art Spiegelman's "In The Shadow Of No Towers" before I even opened the book. As a Manhattanite, the World Trade Center's twin towers used to be my New York City lodestone. With my lousy sense of direction, I always knew where I was by marking my location in relation to the two buildings, soaring skyward, so visible above everything else. Even now, three years after 9/11, I sometimes forget and look towards the southwest, expecting to see the buildings' lights. For days, weeks, months... more info
not what the synopsis says I pre-ordered this book in anticipation of an analysis of the 9/11 anxiety and events experienced by spiegelman looking for his daughter on that day- as the book is marketed. That is actually covered minimally and the majority of the book is a hodge podge of unrelated material. It doesn't feel inspired, just a bit lame and as if he ran out of ideas. It's quite unremarkable, the physical appearnce of the book being the best bit for me. No doubt I'm missing something......?