Salon interviews Phoebe Gloeckner, writer and artist of a graphic novel series based loosely upon her own life. She has some very interesting views on the catharsis of creating art and how it affects not only the viewer, but the creator as well. The interview itself is a very good read, even if you never pick up a copy of the "Dairy of a Teenage Girl" series.

"OK," she says, taking a deep breath. "I believe that all art is about the artist," she says. "So, yeah, my work is about me. But being an artist -- art is artifice, it's creation. By reading that book, you're not experiencing what I experienced. You're perhaps experiencing my interpretation of it, but you're bringing yourself to it. In that way, I always hesitate to say this is a true story. I'm not attempting in any way to make documentary. You can never represent everything. It's always a selective process.

"I mean, really, my motivation is, 'This all happened to me. I feel really totally fucked-up. I don't understand any of this. Let's look at it. Let's not look at it sideways or make it look prettier, but let's just look at it for what it is.' I think the reason people relate to it is because I don't avoid things that may seem unpleasant. I don't really judge things ... I just look at them."

Not your mother's comic book