Books and Movies

Yesterday, I saw a link to this review of American Widow by Alissa Torres and Sungyoon Choi at Bookworm. I clicked over to our library’s web site, placed a hold on it, picked it up after lunch, and finished it last night before bed. Don’t you just love the internet?

American Widow is a graphic memoir telling of Ms. Torres’s experience after losing her husband in the World Trade Towers on 9/11. He started working for Cantor Fitzgerald on September 10th. On September 11th, he died.

Ms. Torres’s story is heartbreaking, extremely well-told, and important for people to know. She speaks of the struggle to get financial help after 9/11, in spite of the fact that millions of dollars of charity were flooding into organizations like the Red Cross. She tells about the pain she felt when people started turning against some of the 9/11 widows in the press, villifying them and accusing them of trying to profit from their husbands’ deaths. Most of all, she tells about her grief and the enormous effort it took for her to continue on with her life.

Sungyoon Choi’s art fits this story perfectly. It is simple and moves the story along. Some of the panels of Ms. Torres sitting alone or lying alone in bed are particularly poignant.

In my opinion, there is one weakness in this book. Ms. Torres speaks of being angry with her husband the day before 9/11, and still angry when she saw him off to work on the morning of the devastation. I never understood what she was angry about. I’m not sure if the weakness lies in the art or in the words, but I am still a little confused on that point. Still, that’s a minor quibble with what is otherwise a brilliant book.

4 out of 5 stars

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