Sarah Leavitt (1)

I'm not sure what I can say about this. I know Sarah personally, and I'm embarrassed to say this is the first time I've read this book. However, I spied my mom's copy in her house, and now that my mom seems to be starting down the path to dementia, I felt compelled to pick it up. It is a heartbreaking story that echoes many similar themes in my own life and relationship with my mom. Sarah's memoir is an intimate portrait of Alzheimer's and what it does to the people who suffer from it, and everyone around them. Her story is frank and honest about the sadness and frustration that creeps in and overwhelms, even in a loving family. Thank you Sarah, for sharing your story. It scares and saddens me, but I'm grateful for it.… (mer)

Vancouver-based lesbian cartoonist, writer, and editor Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir Tangles: A Story about Alzheimer’s, My Mother, and Me is not for the faint of heart. It’s a powerful work, to be sure, but this power comes at quite a cost: Tangles is ultimately a heartbreaking and difficult read. At the same time though, it’s honest, beautiful, and important, perhaps because it’s so hard to read at times. If you’re looking for graphic narratives focused on queerness, Tangles isn’t that, although Leavitt’s sexuality does play a small part in the narrative. The memoir is, however, an impressively complex look at the issues that come with aging and ill parents, with a striking honesty and straightforwardness.

I’ll get what I liked least about the book out of the way first: the drawings. Maybe I’m spoiled by the density and complexity of Alison Bechdel’s two graphic memoirs or the lush colour and detail of the Y: The Last Man series, but I found Leavitt’s drawings sparse and unpolished. The people were little more than stick figures, and were roughly drawn...

See the rest of my review at my blog: http://caseythecanadianlesbrarian.wordpress.com/2012/12/31/a-heartbreaking-and-p...… (mer)