#VelshiBannedBookClub: 'Maus' by Art Spiegelman - Velshi - MSNBC

[Rhiannon12866]

The first ever graphic novel to win a Pulitzer Prize, Art Spiegelman’s “Maus” is a frank and visceral look at the Holocaust through his father’s eyes. When the school board of the McMinn County School District in Tennessee banned the classic from the 8th grade curriculum, it was thrust back into the spotlight for a new generation of readers that badly needed it.

Spiegelman famously depicts his characters in ‘Maus’ as animals – Jewish mice, Nazi cats, Polish pigs, French frogs, and American dogs -- subverting common Nazi propaganda portraying Jewish people as “rats”, “vermin”, and “sub-human”. The black-and-white drawings masterfully illustrate anguish, love, fear, and brutality. The reader is not just hearing about the depravity of the Holocaust – they’re seeing it. At its core “Maus” is a memoir –a story about the Holocaust–but it also explores intergenerational trauma, the complexities of family, mental health, and enduring love. - Aired on 05/27/2023.