Category: Tangles News & Reviews

My interview with Shelagh Rogers was a wonderful experience and I finally remembered to post it here. How does she do it? She makes you feel like you are alone with her in a cozy kitchen with a warm cup of tea… Love her. You can listen to the interview here: http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter/2010/10/sarah-leavitt.html

Sarah Leavitt’s Tangles: A Story About Alzheimer’s, My Mother and Me just about broke my heart. Leavitt is straightforward about the sad, sordid and, yes, sometimes silly moments that bubble up when taking care of a loved one who is slowly losing parts of herself. Read the full article on the Maisonneuve website.

The Advent Book Blog and The Fabler recommend Tangles for holiday giving. What a great idea! Buy Tangles for your friends and family! If you’re in Vancouver, pick up a copy at Pulp Fiction or Little Sister’s. And if you want them signed just send me an email and we’ll work it out. I actually have kind of a system worked out with Pulp Fiction, since they’re in my neighbourhood. Speaking of which, they’ve sold almost 50 copies of Tangles at their store! I also heart Shelf Life Books in Calgary and Westminster Books in Fredericton. Support your independent bookstores; if they don’t have Tangles, ask them to order it.

Thanks to everyone for all your support. On November 29, Tangles was #8 in sales of Canadian- created comics (damn that Scott Pilgrim!). Thanks to Sequential for compiling this list!

The National Post reprinted Ian McGillis’s lovely review from the Montreal Gazette.

Tangles has been named one of “ten tomes worthy of your consideration” by the North Shore News. I love that word, “tome.”

Preserved Images: Sarah Leavitt’s first memoir tracks illness through comics
By Richard Lam

“It’s a fine line that Leavitt walks, but it pays off in how acutely observed every panel is, and how attentive she was to the sensitive and ultimately harrowing experience… Leavitt’s drawings are thin and fragile, full of shaky lines and vulnerability that capture the silent, gradual trauma of the situation.”

Read the full article here, which, by the way, includes my suggestion of “Graphic Trauma” as a label for the sub-genre of autobiographical comics that focuses on families dealing with serious illness. You read it here first.

How awesome to see Tangles in the Globe and Mail’s list of the top 100 books of 2010. There are two titles in the graphic category: Tangles and Wilson by Dan Clowes. Wilson is an excellent book; Brad Mackay explains why in his review. In fact, I took this picture at Shelf Life Books in Calgary in October because I was so excited to see my book on the same shelf as Wilson:

Using spare black and white drawings and uncomplicated, insightful prose Leavitt tells the story of Alzheimer’s—from the early signs of the disease through her mother’s diagnosis, decline and eventual death. Laughter and love intertwine throughout with the horrors of losing a loved one… Read the full review on The Coast website.