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Tangles reviewed in FFWD, Calgary

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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.

Tangles reviewed in Montreal Gazette

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… But her drawing is actually deceptively sophisticated. What might at a glance look like whimsical doodles are in fact controlled and nuanced compositions wringing maximum emotional impact from minimal visual information. The appearance of naivete, sneakily effective at first, grows increasingly appropriate as Midge’s mind regresses into something resembling a childlike state.

I’ve shown this book to two friends, both of whom initially expressed doubts as to whether its form was appropriate to its content; both were soon won over.

The fact that Tangles was short-listed for the Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize could be taken to represent a new level of mainstream acceptance for the graphic-lit medium. I’d prefer to take it as given that graphic lit has arrived and say instead that Tangles is simply a fine and touching book.

As the rate of Alzheimer’s continues to increase as the population ages, Tangles joins Jeffrey Moore’s novel The Memory Artists and Sarah Polley’s film Away from Her at the head of a list of illuminating and much-needed artistic responses.

Read the full article on the Montreal Gazette website  The link is broken to the Gazette review, but here it is on the National Post.

Lynda Barry tells Leonard Lopate about Tangles!

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Lynda Barry was a guest on The Leonard Lopate show on WNYC today, and here’s a thrilling bit from the Guest Picks feature, where they ask guests about stuff they like …

What have you read or seen recently (book, play, film etc…) that moved or surprised you?

Lynda: Sarah Leavitt’s “Tangles,” a story told with comics about losing her mother to Alzheimer’s disease.

See for yourself on The Leonard Lopate show website. (No I am not cyber-stalking my idol Lynda Barry; I just have a Google Alert set up for my book is all.)