A graphic book indeed

kw: book reviews, nonfiction, memoirs, drawings

I am not sure why I finished the book. It was easier to skip to "safe" material, because it is all in color drawings. Halfway through The Imposter's Daughter: A True Memoir by Laurie Sandell, it became clear that she has no qualms about drawing herself nude, and even in flagrante. She declares in her closing section that producing the book was therapy for her. I'll grant her that: she got just about everything out of her system.

At an average four drawings per page, the nearly 250 pages contain 1,000 drawings. A picture must not be worth 1,000 words after all, because it doesn't seem like a million words' worth. But Ms Sandell certainly has quite a story to tell.

Her father was an enthralling figure, with stories of Vietnam, of governmental dealings, of a very high education at stellar institutions, of teaching at Stanford, of a youthful duel, and (genuinely) several years of teaching at a small college…before he began spending his time making "deals" that all seemed to fall through.

When Laurie found out she had no credit rating because of quite a cloud of bad debts, she found her father was the culprit. This crack in the façade opened up a can of worms that she spent a decade unraveling. Was everything he'd told her a lie? Yup, seems so.

When your world's foundations vanish, sometimes you just have to hide. Like many, she hid in addictions and unsavory relationships. How she ever afforded the weeks she spent in rehab, she doesn't say. Forced by her growing resolve to find out who she is, Laurie remade herself, became grounded in faith, and jettisoned a few relationships.

I certainly hope she has grown well beyond the portrayal of herself in most of the book. But I think she has a bit of growing yet to do: the jacket photo shows that she is quite a bit prettier than any of her drawings of herself.