The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale [Hardcover]

Art Spiegelman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 1996

On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first masterpiece in comic book history” (The New Yorker).

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus tells the story of Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler’s Europe, and his son, a cartoonist coming to terms with his father’s story. Maus approaches the unspeakable through the diminutive. Its form, the cartoon (the Nazis are cats, the Jews mice), shocks us out of any lingering sense of familiarity and succeeds in “drawing us closer to the bleak heart of the Holocaust” (The New York Times).

Maus is a haunting tale within a tale. Vladek’s harrowing story of survival is woven into the author’s account of his tortured relationship with his aging father. Against the backdrop of guilt brought by survival, they stage a normal life of small arguments and unhappy visits. This astonishing retelling of our century’s grisliest news is a story of survival, not only of Vladek but of the children who survive even the survivors. Maus studies the bloody pawprints of history and tracks its meaning for all of us.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A loving documentary and brutal fable, a mix of compassion and stoicism [that] sums up the experience of the Holocaust with as much power and as little pretension as any other work I can think of.”
–The New Republic

“A quiet triumph, moving and simple–impossible to describe accurately, and impossible to achieve in any medium but comics.”
–The Washington Post

“Spiegelman has turned the exuberant fantasy of comics inside out by giving us the most incredible fantasy in comics’ history: something that actually occurred…. The central relationship is not that of cat and mouse, but that of Art and Vladek. Maus is terrifying not for its brutality, but for its tenderness and guilt.”
–The New Yorker

“All too infrequently, a book comes along that’s as daring as it is acclaimed. Art Spiegelman’s Maus is just such a book.”
–Esquire

“An epic story told in tiny pictures.”
–The New York Times

“A remarkable work, awesome in its conception and execution… at one and the same time a novel, a documentary, a memoir, and a comic book. Brilliant, just brilliant.”
–Jules Feffer

About the Author

Art Spiegelman is a contributing editor and artist for The New Yorker, and a co-founder / editor of Raw, the acclaimed magazine of avant-garde comics and graphics. His drawings and prints have been exhibited in museums and galleries here and abroad. Honors he has received for Maus include the Pulitzer Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, and nominations for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He lives in New York City with his wife, Françoise Mouly, and their two children, Nadja and Dashiell.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; First Edition edition (November 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679406417
• ISBN-13: 978-0679406419
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 1.2 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (94 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,965 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #13 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Jewish
  • #33 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels
  • #46 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Historical

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hardcover Includes Parts I and II, February 10, 2010

By 

Jay Bee - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Hardcover)

Browsing through the reviews and comments about Maus, I saw that there was some question as to whether the hardcover edition comprised Parts I and II. This is understandable because the product is listed in Amazon as "The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (No 1)," which seems contradictory.

When I was considering purchasing it, I looked at the number of pages that were listed for the edition and guessed that it included both parts of the story. So I bought it, it arrived fine, and I am now writing to confirm that yes, this edition includes I and II.

Amazon should look into this and remove the "(No 1)" from the listing's title.

71 of 84 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, Tremendous, April 4, 2003

By 

doomsdayer520 (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Hardcover)

The title of this review consists of words I don't use too often. But this is a masterpiece that deserved its Pulitzer Prize and then some. What makes Spiegelman's work so moving is the juxtaposition of a supposedly lighthearted form, the comic strip, with the greatest evil and suffering in human history, the Holocaust. Spiegelman's parents miraculously survived the concentration camps, being among very few survivors, getting by on luck and (in the case of Spiegelman's father) a lot of resourcefulness. This is their story, from the point of view of the father, who lost nearly all of his relatives. With the Jews as mice and the Nazis as cats, this work pulls no punches in describing the true horrors of the Holocaust, and Spiegelman's minimalist artwork makes the images all the more disturbing. You don't get this kind of emotion, terror, and brutal honesty in standard written accounts of the period. But underneath the direct suffering of the Holocaust, the true theme of this book is the lasting effects on the Spiegelman family, including the father's lasting agony and the mental illness shared by both Spiegelman's mother and himself, who hadn't even been born yet. The strained relationship between father and son are the true heart of this tremendous work. I haven't been this blown away by a work of literature in a very long time, if ever.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Most Accessible Works About The Shoah and its Aftermath . . ., January 28, 2007

By 

Erica J. Dymond (Bethlehem, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Hardcover)

Foremost, let's discuss your options: the hardcover "Complete Maus" is your best buy. While it may be tempting to purchase the box-set, the hardcover edition is best for longevity. The box-set is comprised of the two soft-cover volumes in a very nice sleeve . . . but it cannot endure multiple reads as gracefully as the hardcover . . . which can be passed around to your friends and family and still maintain a tight binding. The price is comparable, but even it if were not, I would still endorse the complete single volume.

Next, let's explore why this work is used in college classrooms throughout the world. While historical texts provide much needed facts and details of The Holocaust, they frequently disconnect students from the human element. The scope of The Holocaust is just too overwhelming . . . six million, where to begin? And while many films emotionally engage us, sometimes historical inaccuracies frustrate eager learners. Moreover, even the very best films (like "Schindler's List") cannot (perhaps should not) show us the truth. For instance, when reading Brecher's "Schindler's Legacy," we learn that there are many details omitted from Spielberg's work: such as infants being held by their ankles and swung against walls until dead or the vicious dogs which mauled to death those in concentration camps. How can Spielberg show this and still maintain his audience . . . the fear is that he may not. But Spiegelman can. By relating history through mice and the graphic-novel format, Spiegelman can provide just enough emotional distance to relate many of the details which cannot be successfully told otherwise (a point which needs to be clarified in light of the fairly ignorant posts I am reading here about this text). And it does so without be branded "gratuitous." In my experience, it is one of the most effective ways to educate young people (and people of every age) about The Holocaust and the its legacy. And while many works on The Holocaust are met with student-resistance (filled with fear and anger, they fight history), this one is not. It is the gift of this work . . . people listen.

If, by chance, you wish to continue exploring Spiegelman's work, there is a phenomenal critical text which provides illumination: "Considering Maus: Approaches to Art Spiegelman's 'Survivor's Tale' of the Holocaust" by Deborah R. Geis. While geared toward scholars, it can be understood by anyone with a minimum of patience. It is worth the read, but not necessary to the comprehension of this work.

It should be known that Spiegelman's work is a personal one. Much of the text is drawn from the life of his father and what his father endured. So know that Spiegelman approaches this work with the utmost reverence. And while it relates the history of his father, it provides a very accurate description of history. In fact, this piece won The Pulitzer Prize.

This work is one of the most valuable of the twentieth-century. Without hesitation, I recommend it to anyone with an interest in history, literature, philosophy, or illustration.