The Holocaust. A true skidmark on the underpants of human history. Also, one of the quickest ways to a book critic's heart!

Am I saying that critically acclaimed, Top 10 List Making, Pulitzer Award Winning Graphic Novel 'Maus' is overrated? Not really. The art isn't particularly strong, and as someone who is easily riveted by Holocaust stories, I wasn't super-riveted with the Father's holocaust story... But that's not Maus's fault. By the time graphic novels came around, all the good Holocaust stories were pretty much taken.

What did resonate with me on a personal level was the Father-Son relationship, and just the honesty of it all. The art is kind of rough around the edges, but then so are the characters. Just because you've been through Hell and back doesn't make you a Saint. And it doesn't necessarily make the rest of your life peaches and cream, either. It was a very mature, somewhat alarming approach to what could have been a flat, dare I say it, "cartoony" characterization.

I give Maus its props.