Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
The first volume of Spiegelman's defining graphic memoir and the clearest entry point to his work.
Author guide
Art Spiegelman Books in Order
Art Spiegelman (born 1948) is an American cartoonist, writer, editor, and comics advocate. A major figure in underground and alternative comics, he co-founded and co-edited Arcade with Bill Griffith and RAW with Françoise Mouly. His two-volume graphic memoir Maus recounts his parents' Holocaust experiences and his relationship with his father, Vladek. Spiegelman received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for Maus. His other authored books include experimental comics, children's books, nonfiction about comics and cartooning, the post-9/11 graphic work In the Shadow of No Towers, and the Maus companion MetaMaus.
graphic memoirautobiographical comicsnonfictionexperimental comicssatirechildren's literature
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Books by series
graphic-memoir-series · complete
Maus
Art Spiegelman's two-volume graphic memoir about his parents' Holocaust experiences and the making of the memoir.
- 1 Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
Book 1 · graphic_memoir · 1986
- 2 Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began
Book 2 · graphic_memoir · 1991
"Acclaimed as a quiet triumph and a brutally moving work of art, the first volume of Art Spiegelman's Mausintroduced readers to Vladek Spieglman, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, and his son, a cartoonist trying to come to terms with…
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (2)
- Jack Cole and Plastic Man: Forms Stretched to Their Limits
nonfiction_biography · 2001
- MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus
nonfiction · 2011
NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARD WINNER • Visually and emotionally rich, MetaMaus is as groundbreaking as the masterpiece whose creation it reveals • Featured in the documentary Art Spiegelman: Disaster Is My Muse In the pages of MetaMaus, Art…
Nonfiction (1)
- In the Shadow of No Towers
graphic_memoir · 2004
On 11th September 2001, Art Spiegelman raced to the World Trade Center, not knowing if his daughter Nadja was alive or dead. Once she was found safe in her school at the foot of the burning towers he returned home, to meditate on the…
Children's books (2)
- Open Me...I'm a Dog!
children's_graphic_book · 1995
A dog explains how he came to be a book after falling foul of a wizard's curse.
- Jack and the Box
children's_graphic_book · 2008
Other (2)
- Breakdowns: From Maus to Now, an Anthology of Strips
graphic_comics_collection · 1977
- Be a Nose!: Three Sketchbooks
sketchbook_collection · 2009
Frequently asked questions about Art Spiegelman
What is Art Spiegelman’s background and identity?
Art Spiegelman is an American cartoonist, writer, editor, and comics advocate from a Polish Jewish family. Born in Stockholm in 1948 to Holocaust-survivor parents, he grew up in Rego Park, Queens.
Sources: myjewishlearning.com (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)
What is Art Spiegelman best known for?
He is best known for Maus, a two-volume graphic memoir about his parents’ experiences as Polish Jews during the Holocaust and his complicated relationship with his father.
Sources: nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)moma.org (opens in a new tab)
How did Art Spiegelman shape the comics field?
Spiegelman helped expand comics into serious memoir and historical storytelling. With Françoise Mouly, he co-founded RAW, an avant-garde comics magazine that serialized Maus and introduced American readers to European comics.
Sources: loc.gov (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)
What awards has Art Spiegelman received?
He received a special Pulitzer Prize in 1992 for Maus. His other major honors include the Grand Prix at the Angoulême International Comics Festival and the National Book Foundation’s 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sources: pulitzer.org (opens in a new tab)nationalbook.org (opens in a new tab)
Why is Art Spiegelman important to comics and cultural memory?
Maus is widely regarded as a landmark in the transformation of comic-book art because it combines Holocaust history with family memoir and psychological complexity. Spiegelman’s work helped demonstrate that comics could carry sustained literary and historical narratives.
Sources: moma.org (opens in a new tab)loc.gov (opens in a new tab)