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This book highlights the life and career of Leon Granacki, a talented artist who served in the South Pacific during World War II. The artist’s story is told by his daughter, the author of this book. Readers learn that, like most World War II veterans, Granacki rarely spoke about his military service. However, his experiences manifested in his art. His paintings of the South Pacific were vastly different from his paintings depicting Wisconsin farm scenes. Readers gain an intimate look at the artist’s early life and family life. This book is filled with colorful photos and reproductions of Granacki’s journals, paintings, and other mementos. These photos and illustrations provide a visual experience entirely their own, making the history this book preserves even more accessible.
This book uniquely contributes to the ever-growing canon of World War II literature and narratives emerging from families and historians. The author effectively includes her story with her father’s. This allows readers to appreciate that, eventually, the author did begin to understand her father’s experience. The book is also a standout among other World War II journals, histories, and narratives because it focuses on an artist’s experiences during the war. It is also filled, at times, with immense humor. One of the most memorable parts is when the author discusses how Leon’s girlfriend during the war sent him a copy of James Joyce’s Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, “an unusual and potentially embarrassing choice from a single young woman/girlfriend in the 1940s” because of its passionate and erotic content. This is an interesting read, and those with a deep interest in World War II history will appreciate what it accomplishes.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review