"Maxine'izing" Your Research

I never trained as a reporter, but I try to find the truth and adhere to it. Life is simpler that way. But I also like to add color and references to my writing. Thus, when I began my review of Marian Henley's THE SHINIEST JEWEL: A Family Love Story for The Internet Review of Books with ...

We all know about graphic novels — okay, yes, they’re the 21st century comic book equivalent to Classics Illustrated, which were the literature crib notes of my generation. But the cover of The Shiniest Jewel, “a memoir written and illustrated by Marian Henley,” announces that the genre has moved from science fiction, fantasy, and superhero heroics toward something more serious.

The author is the creator of “Maxine,” an acerbic cartoon wherein a fan might read such bons mots as “Family reunions really make you sit back and appreciate those other 51 weekends.”

One minor problem: I learned today that the "Maxine" is not the acerbic "Maxine" I quoted twice in the review.

No, Ms. Henley's "Maxine" is younger, and "different in tone and intention."

I am embarrassed. It was a stupid mistake, one made because I deliberately did not want to learn too much about cartoonist's career as a graphic artist before I undertook to read and review the memoir.

That's no justification or excuse, I know. What must be said is "I apologize."

I did. And I promised myself what must be done next time is better research.

Graphic Memoir

By "graphic," I don't mean "R-rated," or filled with horror. No, in this case, graphic means the memoir follows the dynamic of graphic novels -- it's a story told with pictures and words.

THE SHINIEST JEWEL: A Family Love Story
By Marian Henley
178 pp. Springboard Press/Grand Central $21.99

I recently reviewed the memoir for The Internet Review of Books. It was a quick easy read, and good enough for what it is -- "in its own pen-and-ink perceptive way - a book to be passed on to a friend who is thinking about adoption or to a woman who wants insight into a certain type of father."

But it can be, I suppose, for certain readers, less than satisfying.

It was, however, a first for me.