Thinly Disguised (Autobio)Graphical Stories: Will Eisner’s Life, in Pictures

This article explores the interactions between autobiographical writing and the graphic novel through a critical analysis of Eisner’s collection, Life, in Pictures: Autobiographical Stories (2007). It demonstrates how Eisner’s work challenges the conventional conceptualization of autobiography and also breaks new ground in creating, reading, and theorizing the graphic novel, thus expanding the ways the reader reads and understands both genres. At the same time, it reveals the techniques through which Eisner examines the complexity of social prejudice in visual and textual narratives. Focusing on two stories in the collection, The Dreamer and To the Heart of the Storm, this article discusses how Eisner explores the potential of the graphic novel form by incorporating fiction and life writing. Furthermore, it reveals how Eisner uses these narrative modes to depict not only antisemitism, but also broader social issues regarding prejudice.