Marian Henley emailed me earlier this week in regards to my recent review of her new graphic novel The Sweetest Jewel and asked if I would post the following:
I just read your review of my book and wanted to correct a factual error. I wasn’t inspired by the current popularity of graphic novels and memoirs to do this book – my first graphic novel was published by New American Library in 1987, so I kind of arrived early at the party. But, as you no doubt know, the genre was mostly shunned at the time. Frank Stack took my book seriously and gave it a perceptive review, but otherwise the reaction was, “We don’t review comic books.”
Fortunately, the situation has changed, as your fine career reviewing graphic literature can attest. You’ve probably got more books to review than you can handle, and I do thank you for taking the time to read mine.
For the record, while I stand by my critique of her book, I in no way meant to imply any sort of cynical bandwagon hopping on Henley’s part, but rather to suggest that the recent rise of interest in graphic novels and memoirs is what allowed her to get her story published. That’s hardly clear from my wording, however, so I’ve edited the passage for clarity’s sake. My apologies to Ms. Henley.
