Imposter's Daughter: A True Memoir

I spent a reclusive Sunday afternoon with the dog and IMPOSTER'S DAUGHTER. I read it on Ian's recommendation (and a certain degree of insistence, as he had me go back into the store after dinner to retrieve the book after I forget it when we closed up). Good call.

I sat down to begin reading last night and got really turned off in the first couple pages. The pictures weren't doing anything to push the story beyond saving the author, Laurie Sandell, the drudgery of writing out descriptions, leaving the captions over almost even panel to do the heavy lifting. I had the same problem with WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE WORLD OF TOMORROW by Brian Feis. From a fanboy perspective, it comes off at first glance like the graphic novel format is a bit of a cheat, not leaning on the strength of the sequential art.

I closed up after about 20 pages then immediately picked up again to see what the "reading guide" in the back had to say. The recommended graphic novel list included BLANKETS by Craig Thompson (one of my favorite books of all time) and MAUS by Art Spiegelman (a book I'd analyzed to no end in my modern American literature class). This suggestion caused me to do a double-take on my opinions and think back on how I would have felt about them or if I would have even finished reading those two books that I really enjoyed had I been as prejudiced from the get-go. So I flipped back to the beginning and forged on.

Glad I did. By the time the book reaches its climax I was completely pulled in. Sandell's art had become incredibly charming (though even this took a step back when I read the acknowledgments only to find that she didn't color it [Paige Pooler did ]).

In thinking about it, Sandell's art and storytelling choices came from a much different place, one of imagination and broadening of boundaries, and the typically love of Kirby and Batman that are so common in the industry.

From checking out her blog afterwords, it looks like she had a real blast at Comic-Con (Imposter's Daughter was nominated for the best reality-based Eisner [I had no idea]) and is really enjoying exploring the rest that the medium has to offer.

Two thumbs up. Go get it in the indie section.

Location:The Cave