back from my long ass trip
to Van Ness, where I saw Art Spiegelman speak. Got there early, which was good, because by the time seven o'clock rolled around, the crowd was overflowing. Spiegelman is best known for his two-volume graphic novel Maus, which received the Pulitzer. I read it about ten years ago as part of a college class, and it's one of the books I kept. It was actually the first comic book I ever read, barring MAD Magazine.
Anyway. The bookstore let him smoke, which was unusual in these parts to say the least, but amusingly he never stopped talking enough to actually smoke his cigarette. He did a lecture (with visuals!) on his latest book, and he's a funny, thoughtful, insanely interesting guy. I'd love to take a class on comics history from him.
I stood in line to get my copy of Maus signed (and bought In the Shadow of No Towers, his book about 9/11, as the store requires you to buy something to get something signed -- fair enough) and though the bookstore folks said he wouldn't be personalizing due to the amount of people, I ended up in line for an hour and a half, because he did just that, for everyone there. I didn't really mind, because the guy thanked me for waiting and seemed like he meant it, and on top of that seemed genuinely happy to be there signing ridiculous numbers of books for at least two hours. And most people there had more than one book they wanted him to sign.
I never remember what I want to say to authors when I actually see them at booksignings. What I meant to say to Spiegelman is this: because of Maus, because it was my first exposure to the form, I have such high standards for graphic novels I have a hard time reading many of them.
Anyway. This is mostly for me, I guess. I can't even really remember what he said, but he loves comics, he loves the idea of them, the form and structure of them, and in a living, breathing way, not in a dry theoretical way.
So I've added another to my small, eclectic collection of signed books: Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Bruce Campbell, David Lynch, David Rees, and now Art Spiegelman.
Anyway. The bookstore let him smoke, which was unusual in these parts to say the least, but amusingly he never stopped talking enough to actually smoke his cigarette. He did a lecture (with visuals!) on his latest book, and he's a funny, thoughtful, insanely interesting guy. I'd love to take a class on comics history from him.
I stood in line to get my copy of Maus signed (and bought In the Shadow of No Towers, his book about 9/11, as the store requires you to buy something to get something signed -- fair enough) and though the bookstore folks said he wouldn't be personalizing due to the amount of people, I ended up in line for an hour and a half, because he did just that, for everyone there. I didn't really mind, because the guy thanked me for waiting and seemed like he meant it, and on top of that seemed genuinely happy to be there signing ridiculous numbers of books for at least two hours. And most people there had more than one book they wanted him to sign.
I never remember what I want to say to authors when I actually see them at booksignings. What I meant to say to Spiegelman is this: because of Maus, because it was my first exposure to the form, I have such high standards for graphic novels I have a hard time reading many of them.
Anyway. This is mostly for me, I guess. I can't even really remember what he said, but he loves comics, he loves the idea of them, the form and structure of them, and in a living, breathing way, not in a dry theoretical way.
So I've added another to my small, eclectic collection of signed books: Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Bruce Campbell, David Lynch, David Rees, and now Art Spiegelman.