Sharon Rudahl
Author of Dangerous Woman: The Graphic Biography of Emma Goldman
About the Author
Works by Sharon Rudahl
Adventures of Crystal Night 2 copies
Associated Works
The Graphic Canon, Vol. 1: From the Epic of Gilgamesh to Shakespeare to Dangerous Liaisons (2012) — Illustrator — 283 copies, 7 reviews
Strip AIDS U.S.A.: A Collection of Cartoon Art to Benefit People With AIDS (1988) — Contributor — 62 copies
Choices: A Pro-Choice Benefit Comic Anthology for the National Organization for Women (1990) — Contributor — 20 copies
Ah! Nana № 1-9 — Contributor — 1 copy
Manhunt #2 — Contributor — 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Other names
- Sativa, Mary
- Birthdate
- 1947
- Gender
- female
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Arlington, Virginia, USA
- Places of residence
- Los Angeles, California, USA
- Education
- Cooper Union
- Occupations
- comic book artist
comic book writer
Members
Reviews
Lists
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 8
- Also by
- 18
- Members
- 216
- Popularity
- #103,224
- Rating
- 3.7
- Reviews
- 11
- ISBNs
- 10
- Languages
- 1
Ultimately, it seems the author couldn’t decide who their audience should be: People with no background on Jewish history? People with no background in labour history? People with no background in Eastern European history? I have pretty firm grip on the first and latter, but sections of this were still sometimes confusing. The novel lacked a through-line and driving generation of knowledge a history book should be and instead presented a string of historical instances surrounding the Bund as its history. How can I learn when new faces, new places, and new ideas keep coming up page after page without context? Why do I feel like this is only appreciated by people who already know everything within its pages, and can fill in the necessary knowledge gaps to make a comprehensible history? I don’t know, someone tell me I’m insane!
This book also has an agenda, which is fine if you are aware and willing to engage with it, but not what I look for personally in my history. Half of the blurbs in and outside of the book purposely note an explicitly anti-Zionist intent, though it does not really reflect the work itself, oddly enough. Maybe the publisher was just trying to sell more books? The text is an accurate and well-tuned representation of the movement (even if does make some generalities that are a bit disingenuous), but not mentioning any influence on it from the founding of Israel was very apparent and a bit odd. What about Labour Zionism? What about the diaspora that moved to Israel? I understand not liking either of these histories, but ignoring the massive shift it wrought felt… intentional. It didn’t surprise me then that the book was funded in part by the DSA—when I’ve received books by Gefen Publishers for review, a Conservative Jewish and Israeli-owned publisher, I have to walk a similar right-rope line of reviewing a text that is forthright in its slanted intent and agenda. My only moral code is call it out, so this is me doing it here.
To conclude… I will await other graphic stories of this fascinating history. Even if you agree with their intent, it’s not a strong graphic novel by a mile.… (more)