Book Review: 'Palestine: A Nation Occupied'

It figures that one of the first books to make sense of this mess would be a comic book. After five issues, Joe Sacco's wry, troubled tour of Israel's occupied territories during the intifada of the early '90s has come out in book form (a companion volume will collect the remaining issues next year). Reading it in one sitting, you're astounded by the wealth of human voices, the literally warts-and-all passion of every side in the conflict. And Sacco's realistic cartooning style fits the story: pungently black and white, but with shades of gray coming from the damnedest places. B+