Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

In the Shadow of No Towers

3.65 of 5 stars 3.65 · rating details · 1,807 ratings · 164 reviews

For Art Spiegelman, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Maus, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 were both highly personal and intensely political. In the Shadow of No Towers, his first new book of comics since the groundbreaking Maus, is a masterful and moving account of the events and aftermath of that tragic day.

Spiegelman and his family bore witness to the a...more

Hardcover, 42 pages

Published September 7th 2004 by Pantheon (first published 2004)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Best One-Off Graphic Novels

31st out of 61 books — 36 voters

500 Essential Graphic Novels

360th out of 519 books — 237 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 2,833)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Oct 07, 2012 Ceridwen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 9-11, america-and-environs, comics, reviewed

Somewhere on the shelf where I store all the family photo albums, the high school year books, a stuffing of letters and other ephemera, is a copy of the New Yorker published on September 24, 2001. I find it whenever I'm digging around looking for some artifact of my family's life, and never know what to do with it but slip it back into the jumble. I can't throw it out.

It came in the mail nearly two weeks late, the entire publishing machine run to an absolute standstill as we wept in our living...more

36 likes · like · see review

Feb 29, 2008 Kirsten rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-pre-12-07, own, graphic-novels

Art Spiegelman uses his considerable talent to illustrate the fear and confusion of September 11, 2001 -- and of the months following, when he (like many other Americans) felt the Bush administration had hijacked the tragedy. The second half showcases the weird and political world of early full-page newspaper comics, his model for his own works in this book. An excellent, important book that moved me to tears.

3 likes · like · see review

Sep 29, 2007 Pamela rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: comics

This is Art Spiegelman, so I guess I should not be as surprised as I am that IN THE SHADOW OF NO TOWERS is replete with paranoid ravings—even by the justified standards of lived-to-tell-the-tale New Yorkers. In part, I suspect these ravings are intentional, a way of exhibiting the unraveling trust we place in our surroundings and our government’s ability (or desire) to protect us from harm. But still, I was a little put off.

On another note, comic fans will get a huge kick out of Spiegelman’s inc...more

1 like · like · see review

Apr 27, 2008 Corinne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

The author of this graphic novel (really a collection of full page spreads - a HUGE book) was in NYC on Sept 11th. Spiegelman was in the thick of the horror and his strips go from telling the first-hand story of his experiences that day to a more political commentary on the decisions America's leaders made following the attacks. It's hard to place any judgment on someone who lived through something so devastating - but his comics get a bit disturbing as he works through his discontent. He often...more

1 like · like · see review

Oct 25, 2012 Subroto rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels-comics

I am sad rather disappointed that Art Spiegelman who like million other readers (of Maus) before me had almost started worshipping - wrote this.

As it is - it is so difficult to find a work by this gentleman - and then when you finally get it - it turns out to be no more than a personal document - almost like a diary entry - wavering - intoxicated by paranoia - beautiful in pieces but tremendously shapeless and direction less as a whole.

The book (if one might attempt to call giant size newspape...more

like · see review

Jan 19, 2012 Elliot rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blown away by Spiegelman's Maus series, I decided to check out this unbelievably short (and unbelievably large) collection of his post-9/11 comics. Unfortunately, I found in In the Shadow of No Towers an insubstantial depiction of the artist's paranoia and fear, and his feeling of helplessness as an artist hoping to depict one of the most traumatic events in American history.

This latter subject is no stranger to fans of the second volume of Maus, And Here My Troubles Began. Much better than the...more Blown away by Spiegelman's Maus series, I decided to check out this unbelievably short (and unbelievably large) collection of his post-9/11 comics. Unfortunately, I found in In the Shadow of No Towers an insubstantial depiction of the artist's paranoia and fear, and his feeling of helplessness as an artist hoping to depict one of the most traumatic events in American history.

This latter subject is no stranger to fans of the second volume of Maus, And Here My Troubles Began. Much better than the first volume (quite a feat!), Spiegelman spends a significant portion of Maus explaining the his own psychological inhibitions preventing him from working on the graphic novel, and the utter audacity of even attempting to condense the Holocaust -- an event far too real to be mutated and excised -- into 290 pages of drawings. The irony, of course, is that Spiegelman did finally finish Maus, a remarkable work of personal and historical fiction. (Spiegelman himself points out a similar irony when, after quoting Beckett, "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness," he says, "On the other hand, he SAID it.")

In the Shadow of No Towers, unlike And Here My Troubles Began, cannot make the same statements. Whereas Maus was a complete work that beautifully referenced its own incompleteness, In the Shadow of No Towers is merely incomplete.

Elements of its incompleteness reveal the extent of Spiegelman's inability to capture the September 11th attacks -- the incredible length of time Spiegelman spent creating what amounts to only 10 pages of material, his inclusion of ultimately irrelevant historical comics to avoid having to draw more, the explicit references to the artist's creative paralysis. These, despite their extra-textual symbolic potency (since what is most striking about this collection is not the comics -- though they are okay -- but the absence of what Spiegelman could have written), don't make for great art.

In the Shadow of No Towers reveals Spiegelman's limitations as a writer in a way that is both psychologically interesting and artistically mediocre.(less)

like · see review

Aug 06, 2011 Sam Quixote rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a massive book. Large, almost A3 size planks of cardboard which, when you actually count them, only add up to 10 (albeit huge) pages of Spiegelman talking about his experience of 9/11. What happens is his daughter goes to a school in the WTC. Then the attacks happen. He and his wife run around screaming trying to find their kid and they do. They get to safety. The attacks frazzled Spiegelman and he ended up drawing this vastly overproduced book.

Hardly inspirational or even insightful in...more

like · see review

Jul 28, 2011 Linh Hoang rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tenth-grade-advisory

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

May 17, 2011 Jen Hirt rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Halfway through this book, Spiegelman, who lives in Manhattan and had to run through the streets on September 11 to get his daughter out of school, writes that the only way he could get the image of burning skyscrapers out of his head was to browse old comic strips: "That they were made with so much skill and verve but never intended to last past the day they appeared in the newspaper gave them poignancy; they were just right for an end of the world moment." And with that, he created 10 graphic...more

2 likes · like · see review

Mar 17, 2011 Kerfe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel, non-fiction, biography-memoir

I'm not sure how to rate this really. The title as a metaphor for NYC after 9/11 is 5 stars for sure.

A series of broadside meditations--political, mental, and social commentary--on Spiegelman's experience in lower Manhattan on 9/11 and how its afterimage engulfed his spirit--is followed by a history of the beginnings of newspaper comics in the United States (with illustrated examples). The dislocation I felt between the two sections mirrored the author's state as he related it in his broadsides...more

1 like · like · see review

Nov 29, 2009 Bren rated it 3 of 5 stars

"Schmuck, you shoulda done more comix!" Art Spiegelman tells his audience was one of the prominent thoughts that passed through his mind as he watched the north tower of the World Trade Center collapse.

Spiegelman thought he was going to die that day. He and wife Francoise were on the street when they heard the tremendous crash of the plane hitting the first tower. It hardly phased them at first... until they finally turned around to see what had upset a fellow pedestrian.

His first concern was fo...more "Schmuck, you shoulda done more comix!" Art Spiegelman tells his audience was one of the prominent thoughts that passed through his mind as he watched the north tower of the World Trade Center collapse.

Spiegelman thought he was going to die that day. He and wife Francoise were on the street when they heard the tremendous crash of the plane hitting the first tower. It hardly phased them at first... until they finally turned around to see what had upset a fellow pedestrian.

His first concern was for his teenaged daughter, who attended a school within a few minutes' walking distance from what became Ground Zero. As they prepared to call the school, the second plane hit.

Spiegelman thought that it was the end of the world, that the sky was falling... and that he was going to die.

In the Shadow of No Towers is an unusual book in that it is comprised of merely ten of the artist's comix, with a smattering of classic Sunday newspaper supplement strips for reference. Spiegelman, in his own series, drew frequent reference to some of the more esoteric relics of bygone days (Bringing Up Father and The Katzenjammer Kids being amongst the more commonly-remembered titles), and the pages following his own serve to give unknowing readers a point of reference, so as to better understand the oblique homages. Each comic occupies two large cardboard "pages," and this is what gives the large tome its overall heft (almost three pounds for a 48-paged book!).

The book details one man's reaction to the greatest tragedy on American soil in recent years - a man who was practically an eye-witness to the events of that day. From this comes the strength of the book, and gives it significant meaning such as many other such titles may not have.

However, the book - as a whole piece - is disjointed. The "comics supplement" section, while creating reference for readers, feels gratuitous and irrelevant to the previous pages' subject matter. Perhaps delving into these comics was a part of Spiegelman's initial reaction to the tragedy ("The blast that disintegrated those Lower Manhattan towers also disinterred the ghosts of some Sunday supplement stars born on nearby Park Row," states the eightyh installation of "In the Shadow of No Towers). To the reader, though, the inclusion of these seemingly random supplements feels an excessive exercise in piecemealing a complete book together. True, the subject of these classic comics appear to have some slight relation ("Father, for instance, is unnerved by the sight of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and Happy Hooligan gets a stint riding a camel in a circus for a day), but still... is there any pertinent relationship beyond these superficialities?

Spiegelman's comix are altogether too rare to be left unseen. In this case, after having appeared in their original venue (the German newspaper Die Zeit), perhaps they ought to have been included along with more of the author's output (as sporadic as it has become). Perhaps it was feared that the material would have been too "outdated" to reprint along with further new material. As moving and as majestic these full-colour pages are, they just haven't got enough strength to support an entire book all on their own.

Thankfully, though, Spiegelman has done more comix, and lives on to create even more.(less)

like · see review

Jul 31, 2010 Panoramaisland rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, indie-underground-comics, dark, war-and-peace, design, memoir-autobiography, nonfiction, comedy, experimental-postmodern-absurd

Only His High Holiness Art Shpeegleman could get away with something like this: he goes for years without publishing a whit of comics, drums up all sorts of hype and excitement, and then leaves us with what? Why, a board book! A fancily-printed pamphlet of newspaper pages, 38 cardstock pages total (including the frontispiece, introduction and everything), only 20 pages of which contain his actual original creations. Of course, those 20 pages are all newspaper-style double-page fold-out spreads,...more Only His High Holiness Art Shpeegleman could get away with something like this: he goes for years without publishing a whit of comics, drums up all sorts of hype and excitement, and then leaves us with what? Why, a board book! A fancily-printed pamphlet of newspaper pages, 38 cardstock pages total (including the frontispiece, introduction and everything), only 20 pages of which contain his actual original creations. Of course, those 20 pages are all newspaper-style double-page fold-out spreads, so it's really only 10 pages oversize. That means I spent two dollars per newspaper-sized page of comics on this. Mr. Spiegelman loves to be an ego, chain-smoking on stage while he gives lectures in smoke-free lecture halls, and I feel like this format is just another way for him to proclaim his self-importance.

That being said, the book is not without merit. His layouts can be pretty freaking excellent - very communicative, very inventive - and here, they did a smashing job of conveying his paranoia and capturing the general upendedness and gullibility of the nation at the time of the attacks. He seems to be a bit more okay with his own generally assish (I'm coining that word as of now) behavior than I would like, but I suppose that's to be expected. The pages do string together, but they don't really form a story; this book is more a mood-capture than anything.

Spiegelman always says that he views sequential communication skill as being of primary importance, and drawing as secondary. To a good extent, I agree; however, I feel that his work - not just in The Shadow of No Towers, but the rest of it as well - really does suffer from that assumption. He is not a bad illustrator, and had he simply put more effort and care into the drawings, he would have communicated the emotion behind his beautifully constructed pages that much better.

Last but not least, I thought the padding - in the form of vintage newspaper comics reprints - was unnecessary. His evolving relationship with vintage funnies around the time of 9/11 was better communicated by the (frankly well-executed) incorporation of those classics into the body of the comics themselves than by including them at the back in an attempt to make the book a bit thicker.

Both Spiegelman's talent and Spiegelman's hubris are quite present in this collection - the latter unfortunately moreso than the former.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Apr 29, 2012 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

I have read several reviews on here that mock Art Spiegelman as "The King" or call his book pretentious or get angry over the fact that it's short or too large in size. But let's get one thing straight here: Art Spiegelman is, without a doubt, just as important as he thinks he is. And this book is further evidence of that.

Other complaints have centered on his strong political beliefs: but, let's face it, he is right. That tragedy WAS highjacked by the right, and the American public was hoodwinke...more I have read several reviews on here that mock Art Spiegelman as "The King" or call his book pretentious or get angry over the fact that it's short or too large in size. But let's get one thing straight here: Art Spiegelman is, without a doubt, just as important as he thinks he is. And this book is further evidence of that.

Other complaints have centered on his strong political beliefs: but, let's face it, he is right. That tragedy WAS highjacked by the right, and the American public was hoodwinked into a costly war that killed far more innocent people than September 11th did, and it lasted over 10 years. So, to be mad at him for that is to be in denial and discomfort of reality.

And even though Spiegelman may be well aware of his genius in the realm of comics and politics, he is never, ever pretentious with his readers: he is honest about his flaws, his insecurities, his paranoia, his obsessions, his weaknesses, his sadness--and that honesty translates into a beautiful and undeniably truthful work of art that captures the chaos and the fear of that historical event brilliantly.

Visually, the artwork is stunning--full color, cardboard pages--rich with symbolism, varied artistic styles, and textured, carefully rendered vignettes about the experiences and his reactions being so close to the event. Every page you turn evokes a breathtaking awe and a gut wrenching reaction.

As for the size of the book, it is HUGE! At first, I got it and thought: oh no! It won't even fit on my bookshelf! I'm going to have to lower one of my shelves just for this book. Why so big? And then I thought about it: September 11th, as an historical event has forced its way into our subconscious--and it's big, bulky, difficult to carry, demanding more and more space in the trajectory of American history and identity as the years go on. For a New Yorker, this must be even more true. The bulk and heft of this book seems appropriate. I made the space for it on my shelf.

Finally, I thought the supplementary material that inspired this work was really interesting for any fan of comics--you can see the way the form has evolved to be imbued with high quality craftwork and social commentary, and in these comics Art gracefully shows how history repeats itself and how comics have been a medium for grappling with complex human emotions for decades.

It's a beautiful piece of art that you can hand to future generations to teach them about the chaos of the moment, the saturated media around the event, and the displacement that occurred afterward that led to many Americans feeling a deep cynicism and shame. It's an important work. Long hail King Spiegelman!(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 23, 2011 Phillip Goodman rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: art, comics-graphic-novels, politics, satire, comedy

fantastic and ingrossing in a way that you'd never imagine a collection of full page comic strips would be, its 38 pages feel like more than 80 pages in size, more than 800 in scope, it is the perfect antidote to all the sacarine commemorative nonsence that refuses to deal with the issues, and at the same time its an antidote to all the conspiracy theory's that get lost in certain aspects of the issues or even of an issue and never admit how speculative and racked by tunnel vision they are. this...more

like · see review

Aug 03, 2009 Jodi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009-read

A few months ago my friend Wolfdogg loaned me a couple of post-9-11 anthologies that contained a bunch of short graphic (as in pictures and not extremely, grossly detailed) stories about the artist’s reactions to 9-11. I dove into one of the books and about half-way through put it down. I couldn’t continue.

It’s not that it was too soon, it was that it was entirely too late. The comics filled with kumbaya, we’re all in this together, united we stand, blah, blah, blah just rang false nine years la...more

like · see review

Dec 03, 2011 Joyce rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: world-trade-center, 9-11, american

Had to have my own copy. Summary: Catastrophic, world-altering events like the September 11 attacks on the United States place the millions of us who experience them on the "fault line where World History and Personal History collide." Most of us, however, cannot document that intersection with the force, compression, and poignancy expressed in Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers. As in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, cartoonist Spiegelman presents a highly personalized, political, and...more Had to have my own copy. Summary: Catastrophic, world-altering events like the September 11 attacks on the United States place the millions of us who experience them on the "fault line where World History and Personal History collide." Most of us, however, cannot document that intersection with the force, compression, and poignancy expressed in Art Spiegelman's In the Shadow of No Towers. As in his Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, cartoonist Spiegelman presents a highly personalized, political, and confessional diary of his experience of September 11 and its aftermath. In 10 large-scale pages of original, hard hitting material (composed from September 11, 2001 to August 31, 2003), two essays, and 10 old comic strip reproductions from the early 20th century, Spiegelman expresses his feelings of dislocation, grief, anxiety, and outrage over the horror of the attacks---and the subsequent "hijacking" of the event by the Bush administration to serve what he believes is a misguided and immoral political agenda. Readers who agree with Spiegelman's point of view will marvel at the brilliance of his images and the wit and accuracy of his commentary. Others, no doubt, will be jolted by his candor and, perhaps, be challenged to reexamine their position.

The central image in the sequence of original broadsides, which returns as a leitmotif in each strip, is Spiegelman's Impressionistic "vision of disintegration," of the North Tower, its "glowing bones...just before it vaporized." (As downtown New Yorkers, Spiegelman and his family experienced the event firsthand.) But the images and styles in the book are as fragmentary and ever-shifting as Spiegelman's reflections and reactions. The author's closing comment that "The towers have come to loom far larger than life...but they seem to get smaller every day" reflects a larger and more chilling irony that permeates In the Shadow of No Towers. Despite the ephemeral nature of the comic strip form, the old comics at the back of the book have outlasted the seemingly indestructible towers. In the same way, Spiegelman's heartfelt impressions have immortalized the towers that, imponderably, have now vanished. --Silvana Tropea(less)

like · see review

Nov 11, 2012 Greg rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this up the other night after seeing Mr. Spiegelman speak at Zoellner Arts Center. I was completely enthralled by his lecture and felt compelled to consume more of his work. I'd only previously read Maus and its sequel. Oddly, this book was harder for me to connect with despite the fact that I did actually live through 9/11 and not the Holocaust. This struck me as intensely personal, as much of Spiegelman's work seems to be but in a way that I personally couldn't relate to. I found it i...more

like · see review

Sep 01, 2011 Kevin rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels

It didn't have the things that I look for in stories or graphic novels. It lacks narrative development, character development, and any kind of arc. It's mostly a reaction (or collection of one man's reactions) to 9/11 and the government's response to it. It doesn't connect any of the dots for you in terms of what the government's reaction was or Spiegelman's own politics - you have to know or intuit these things on your own. As a book that's intended as a reaction to a traumatic event, I guess t...more

like · see review

Nov 04, 2011 Liz rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

basically, this should not be a book. there's like, six pages of original graphic content, plus maybe four pages of original text, then six pages of reprinted vintage newspaper comics presented more or less without comment. the only reason it looks reasonably bookish is that it's printed on super-thick cardstock, like a two-year-old's book. plus I think the whole thing suffers a bit from historical distance -- I've already read six million other things saying most of the stuff Spiegelman has to...more

like · see review

Oct 25, 2010 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Graphic Novel readers and 9/11

Shelves: reads-of-2010, non-fiction, read-from-library, graphic-novels, reviewed

My college professor shared this book with us last semester. I have been waiting for my library to find it, yes, I said find it. They had two copies and somehow both were lost inside the library, the computer said that they were checked in. Finally, a copy was found. So, after a long wait, I read it and here is my review.

I am not a fan of graphic novels or things to do with 9/11. I prefer to paint a picture in my mind about what I am readind, instead of someone doing it for me. I also am not a...more

like · see review

Jan 30, 2013 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Alan by: Ceridwen

Shelves: grahic-books-cartoons

this came in pretty quick to the library - I didn't realise how big it was.. is. Seems rather bold/irreverent to have the falling people on the front, with the towers in black in the background. But I remember Maus, and how well that worked..
of course that's part of the point (the irreverence)- this was written/drawn not long after the twin towers came down and you weren't allowed to comment at all, especially negatively about the government's response (invade Iraq, who had nothing to do with it...more

like · see review

May 14, 2011 Sam Tones rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

David Harvey remarked that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre “marked in towering glass and steel the moment of transition from Fordism to flexible accumulation, led by financialization of everything”. A symbol of American dominance, a constant and inescapable reminder of the steady march of commerce and capital. They were the symbol of an age, and when they were destroyed, Spiegelman demonstrates that that age - and time itself - stopped dead.

This sense of temporal arrest is captured pow...more David Harvey remarked that the Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre “marked in towering glass and steel the moment of transition from Fordism to flexible accumulation, led by financialization of everything”. A symbol of American dominance, a constant and inescapable reminder of the steady march of commerce and capital. They were the symbol of an age, and when they were destroyed, Spiegelman demonstrates that that age - and time itself - stopped dead.

This sense of temporal arrest is captured powerfully in No Towers, through the repeated depiction of a fading "after-image": the glowing embers of the north tower's "bones" moments after it collapsed. The scope of No Towers extends further than just the immediate aftermath of 9/11. It also catalogues the Bush administration's headlong dive into the War on Terror, and the repetition of the after-image provides a constant reminder to the reader that whatever happened - or did not happen - it began here.

As the political ramifications of 9/11 become clearer, the image no longer fades but transforms into an American flag. This provincial politicisation of the after-image engenders resistance within Spiegelman, and in the eighth spread he overlays the image with a short diatribe: “the killer apes learned nothing from the twin towers of Auschwitz and Hiroshima... and nothing changed on 9/11. His “president” wages his wars and wars on wages – same old deadly business as usual”. That, for Spiegelman, is the greatest tragedy of 9/11. Everything should have changed in this moment when time stood still and buildings moved, and yet nothing did.

People often ask why Spiegelman chooses to use characters from old comics throughout No Towers. Certainly they are jarring, especially for a reader unfamiliar with the more obscure characters that Spiegelman's dredges up from his encyclopaedic knowledge of comics history. Spiegelman says that, for him, it is similar to how other people sought solace in poetry after 9/11. There is something more at work, however, since it is impossible to read poetry or comics in hindsight without the perspective that the tragedy of 9/11 provides. It seems apparent to me that he is asking the reader to remember their history, to remember that violence - even if it is just the playful violence of one character chucking a brick at another - is an integral part of US history, and indeed the history of the human animal. The twin towers, with all their symbolic weight, shrouded the violence underlying the US's precarious global dominance, and after their destruction, that violence was unleashed on the world. An opportunity to build bridges out of the rubble of 9/11 was missed.

As paranoid and hysterical as Spiegelman's assertions are, they would prove to be quite prescient as the global community began to understand the true extent of the fallout of 9/11, which continues to this day. It is almost impossible to escape comparison to Spiegelman's previous major publication, so I will state that no, it is not quite as successful as Maus at dealing with the tragedy of its subject matter, its major fault being that its eclecticism often precludes the reader from being moved on an emotional level. However, it remains a provocative work which bridges the personal and the political in an intriguing way. Sadly, it was discovered by the majority of its readership far too late.(less)

like · see review

Dec 23, 2012 Catherine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: american, art-graphic, not-own

The book does at least two things that I find really great. First and most important of these things is the way it traces how Spiegelman has attempted to cope with 9/11, an event that took place in his neighbourhood. The degree of my enjoyment may be linked to how his politics align with my own, but I think there's a lot of soul searching condensed into a very small space.

The second thing the book does is provide a brief essay on the early history of comics, including large reproductions of seve...more

like · see review

May 13, 2012 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads

This is a hard book to rate and review. I chose to read this book for my American Autobiographical Graphic Novels class because it deals with the trama experienced by Spiegelman during and after 9/11. It is a short read, but a powerful one. The story has multiple narratives going on at once and consists of a mixture between Spiegelman's own style and the style of old newspaper comics. The way that Spiegelman narrates his 9/11 experiences and trauma is blunt and raw and brought me back to my own...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 23, 2011 Molly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-non-fiction, graphic-novels

Very compelling, very Spiegelman-esque. I felt a little weird with his 10 layouts being put together with old time-y comics- like publishers did whatever they had to do to turn this into a feature-length book. The pages were like board-books, which I thought was great. Perfect for an oversize book- keeping it from falling apart; and the probable secret real reason, which was giving some bulk to make this appear to be as long as a "real" book.

But this should definitely be considered a part of Am...more

like · see review

Sep 12, 2010 Kristopher rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics, non-fiction, re-read

When I first read this in 2004, I thought Art Spiegelman made some good points. Now, I think he was a prophet. On the ninth anniversary of a day when everybody remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing, any genuine sentiment surrounding 9/11 has ossified into pro forma speeches, flag lapel pins, and political jockeying (while always blaming the other guys for doing it first.) Back in 2002 when he started No Towers, Spiegelman was the only person brave enough or pessimistic enoug...more

like · see review

May 11, 2012 Dani Peloquin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As author of Maus, I had very high expectations for this graphic novel that focuses on September 11th. I was not disappointed. Once again, Spiegelman has created a graphic novel that is heartbreaking and poignant while still having aspects of humor. I would not say that his style is humorous but there are elements of dark humor that make the reader chuckle at his irony.

It is in an oversize format in which the book opens vertically like a newspaper. This adds to Spiegelman's design of having each...more As author of Maus, I had very high expectations for this graphic novel that focuses on September 11th. I was not disappointed. Once again, Spiegelman has created a graphic novel that is heartbreaking and poignant while still having aspects of humor. I would not say that his style is humorous but there are elements of dark humor that make the reader chuckle at his irony.

It is in an oversize format in which the book opens vertically like a newspaper. This adds to Spiegelman's design of having each page look like the front page of a newspaper. Half of the graphic novel is formatted in this way while the other half consists of plates from 1903-1921. Though the main story is only told in about twenty pages, it is filled with such passion and insight that it could easily fill an entire 400 page novel.

There is no true "plot" in this graphic novel but instead centers around Spiegelman's own experience on 9/11 and his reflections on the event years later. Clearly, Spiegelman suffers from post-traumatic stress due to the event and the extremely emotional situations that his family was put through. Though the content is heavy, he pokes fun at the government and the onslaught of patriotism that the event caused.

Written between 2002 and 2004, this graphic novel is a reflection on that day and the horrific days that followed. At times, In the Shadow of No Towers feels like Spiegelman’s personal project that he created in order to help with his own neurosis and come to terms with his own experiences. Yet this is not detrimental to the story and at no time does the reader feel as if Spiegelman pities himself. In fact, many of his observations about himself are pretty universal to anyone who lived through that day and the emotional/political whiplash that followed.

Before reading this book, I had not read a single book (fiction or non) that even remotely touched upon 9/11. I felt that it still hangs over us and that it was too soon for any movie or book to be written. It took me a couple of weeks before I was even willing to pick up this book but I really respected Spiegelman's treatment of the Holocaust in Maus and therefore thought that I would give it a try. I am so glad that I did because his perspective and opinions matched my own. I do not know if this book is for everyone because Spiegelman certainly is outspoken about his views. For those who are willing to give it a shot, it has the potential to be extremely therapeutic.

www.iamliteraryaddicted.blogspot.com (less)

like · see review

May 08, 2011 Andy Zeigert rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I spent the entire period between 9/11 and when this book was published in 2004 going to college in Indiana, so perhaps the paranoid fear of the Manhattanite went over my head. But I can't help feeling like the voice of the author feels a bit... dated. I don't know. Each page was too much of a mess to really take the reader from one place to another, so I guess by the time I got to the end I felt the confusion that the author was trying to convey.

What made this book worth reading, however, was t...more

like · see review

Mar 04, 2009 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: politics, american-history

This is Spiegelman's reaction to the attacks on the World Trade Center buildings. He, his wife, and his daughter were all in it, in south Manhatten, within sight of the burning and crumbling towers. It chronicles his race to get his daughter and his feelings of extreme fear, horror, and anger at the attackers and the American regime. It no doubt mirrors much of the thoughts of people at the time and over the course of the next several months, as the attacks are used as an excuse for horrible pol...more

like · see review

Mar 13, 2009 Josephus FromPlacitas rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book cost enough to feed a family for two weeks but consisted of, what, maybe eighteen pages of comics? And nothing from it really stuck with me, just a vague sense of post-9/11 paranoia and Art Spiegelman wearing a Happy Hooligan tin can hat for some reason.

I'll pull it out of storage the next time I head home and I'll give it another read, but it left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth the first time I read it. Sure the art was pretty neat, but nothing really stood out other than how overp...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 94 95 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Be the first to start one »

Recommend it | Stats | Recent status updates

combine
Other Editions (7)

More editions...

Genres

Sequential Art > Graphic Novels

147 users

Sequential Art > Comics

94 users

Non Fiction

39 users

History

25 users

Autobiography > Memoir

13 users

Graphic Novels Comics

11 users

Sequential Art > Comix

9 users

Politics

8 users

Biography

6 users

Art

6 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

The Best American Comics 2006
by Harvey Pekar (Editor)
Fax from Sarajevo
by Joe Kubert
Our Cancer Year
by Harvey Pekar
An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories
by Ivan Brunetti (Editor)
The Best American Comics 2008
by Lynda Barry (Editor)

About Art Spiegelman

Art Spiegelman (born February 15, 1948) is an American comics artist, editor, and advocate for the medium of comics, best known for his Pulitzer Prize-winning comic memoir, Maus. The second volume of Maus was dedicated to Richieu and to Spiegelman's daughter Nadja. He also has a son, currently a junior at Brown University.

More about Art Spiegelman...

Books by Art Spiegelman

Maus, Vol. 2: And Here My Troubles Began

MetaMaus: A Look Inside a Modern Classic, Maus

Breakdowns: Portrait of the Artist as a Young %@&*!

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About In the Shadow of ...

1 trivia question

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: In the Shadow of No Towers
avg rating	preview: In the Shadow of No Towers Goodreads rating: 3.65 (1807 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/531911.In_the_Shadow_of_No_Towers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320544091l/531911.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/531911.In_the_Shadow_of_No_Towers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegelman[/url]

In the Shadow of No Towers

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website