The Imposter's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell
On a whim, I was browsing through the graphic novels on Amazon and happened across "The Imposter's Daughter" by Laurie Sandell. I got the Kindle version "which is a little hard to read on the Kindle 2 because of the small size. I have to admit, 1) I'm fairly new to the indie comics scene so when I select something it is usually on a whim. I'm not part of the indie intelligentsia and I am rather isolated from any other comic readers. 2) Since I am an American and live in Italy; I pretty much have to stick to Amazon and other online sources for my reading selections. I'm not apologizing or making excuses, just wanted to frame how I choose my reading material.
Having said that, reading through the blurb on Amazon, the premise hooked me right away. Essentially the memoirs of a girl/woman and her relationship with her larger than life father. I shouldn't say just larger than life, I mean her father pretty much crafted himself into a family folk hero, dashing rebel, suave insider, and mercurial enigma all rolled into one. The memoir involves Laurie and how her relationship with her father evolves as she ages and how she comes to learn of his false faces and unravel his mysteries and what that does to her and her family as a whole. It is incredibly interesting reading. Her father genuinely seems like a erudite and interesting character even without all of the fictions he has grafted on to his past life. It is interesting to see how Laurie grows up with these stories of her father and how they become woven into the family mythology and watch how they unravel over time. I think it is fairly typical to go through a period of disillusionment with our parents as we come of age and we being to realize that our parents are simply... human and flawed like everyone else. This goes beyond that since Laurie has much larger and more towering heights from which to plummet while unraveling her father's true self. It is like watching Paul Bunyan getting whittled down to an overgrown toddler clinging to his self identity. And that's not even mentioning the lies and apparent fraud that Laurie's father puts the family through. He is living this imagined life literally at the expense of his family and it has repercussions for Laurie and her later relationships with others. I found the artwork a bit crude at first but as I got absorbed into the story, I found it suited the overall narrative. I will have to check out a print version as opposed to the Kindle version as I'm sure that the overall effect will be much better. All-in-all, I found this an engrossing story that I wanted to get back to. The print version runs 256 pages but it is a very quick read as it pulls you in. I highly recommend this and give it four out of five stars.
Having said that, reading through the blurb on Amazon, the premise hooked me right away. Essentially the memoirs of a girl/woman and her relationship with her larger than life father. I shouldn't say just larger than life, I mean her father pretty much crafted himself into a family folk hero, dashing rebel, suave insider, and mercurial enigma all rolled into one. The memoir involves Laurie and how her relationship with her father evolves as she ages and how she comes to learn of his false faces and unravel his mysteries and what that does to her and her family as a whole. It is incredibly interesting reading. Her father genuinely seems like a erudite and interesting character even without all of the fictions he has grafted on to his past life. It is interesting to see how Laurie grows up with these stories of her father and how they become woven into the family mythology and watch how they unravel over time. I think it is fairly typical to go through a period of disillusionment with our parents as we come of age and we being to realize that our parents are simply... human and flawed like everyone else. This goes beyond that since Laurie has much larger and more towering heights from which to plummet while unraveling her father's true self. It is like watching Paul Bunyan getting whittled down to an overgrown toddler clinging to his self identity. And that's not even mentioning the lies and apparent fraud that Laurie's father puts the family through. He is living this imagined life literally at the expense of his family and it has repercussions for Laurie and her later relationships with others. I found the artwork a bit crude at first but as I got absorbed into the story, I found it suited the overall narrative. I will have to check out a print version as opposed to the Kindle version as I'm sure that the overall effect will be much better. All-in-all, I found this an engrossing story that I wanted to get back to. The print version runs 256 pages but it is a very quick read as it pulls you in. I highly recommend this and give it four out of five stars.
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