Maus II
by Art Spiegelman
★ Top 25 book of 1991 · #17 on Best Books of 1991
This second volume follows a Holocaust survivor from Auschwitz to the Catskills, while his cartoonist son wrestles with their strained bond. Told with Jews as mice and Nazis as cats, it shifts between tragedy and comedy.
Best for: Readers drawn to survivor stories told through graphic, inventive storytelling
Maus II is #17 on BookWard's Best Books of 1991, out of 23 1991 books that cleared our data bar.
What Maus II is about
Art Spiegelman continues his account of his father Vladek, a Jewish survivor of Hitler's Europe, drawing the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice. The story moves from the barracks of Auschwitz to a quiet Catskills holiday colony, setting Vladek's improbable survival beside the cartoonist's difficult, often painful relationship with his aging father. It shows the strange contradictions of family life inside the camps, and it asks what is passed on to the children of survivors. The tone swings between tragedy and dark comedy, never looking away. This is the second volume, so those new to the story should start with the first.
Maus II on the Best Books of 1991
Maus II came out in 1991. Of the 23 books first published in 1991 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #17 on our Best Books of 1991 list.
Why it made the list: 151 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (40 ratings). The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 1991 list
- Women on Top Nancy Friday, #15
- The River Gary Paulsen, #16
- The Gift of Loving Patricia Wilson, #18
- Sojourn R. A. Salvatore, #19
See all Best Books of 1991 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 1990 Best Books of 1992.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 91 want to read it, 4 are reading it now and 56 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 from 40 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 9 | 55% |
| Reader love | 100 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 26 | 20% |
Questions about Maus II
When was Maus II published?
Maus II by Art Spiegelman was first published in 1991.
Was Maus II one of the best books of 1991?
Maus II is #17 on BookWard's Best Books of 1991, out of 23 1991 books that cleared our data bar. 151 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (40 ratings).
Why is Maus II on the Best Books of 1991 list?
151 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (40 ratings).
More of the best books of 1991
- Outlander Diana Gabaldon, #1
- Needful Things Stephen King, #2
- American Psycho Bret Easton Ellis, #3
- Shiloh Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, #4
- The Firm John Grisham, #5
- Reaper Man Terry Pratchett, #6
See the full Best Books of 1991, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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