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jwinchell's review against another edition
4.0
I consider myself to be a fan of Daniel Clowes, but I don't read much of his stuff. His characters and scenarios make me uncomfortable, and I tend not to be patient enough to push through that.
But I do love Ghost World, and I loved seeing the exhibit on his work at the MCA. This book helped me to appreciate the complexity of what he does all the more, even if I didn't engage with it thoroughly.
I skimmed this lengthy volume but I read many of the essays, especially those that gave overviews of his life & work & that focused on Ghost World. The Ghost World subject index was fascinating and gave me a deeper appreciation of just how layered a work it is.
This would be a good text to use in full in a graphic novel course, or to excerpt. It strikes me as a must-read for aspiring cartoonists and for anyone who wants to think more deeply about Clowes' work.
But I do love Ghost World, and I loved seeing the exhibit on his work at the MCA. This book helped me to appreciate the complexity of what he does all the more, even if I didn't engage with it thoroughly.
I skimmed this lengthy volume but I read many of the essays, especially those that gave overviews of his life & work & that focused on Ghost World. The Ghost World subject index was fascinating and gave me a deeper appreciation of just how layered a work it is.
This would be a good text to use in full in a graphic novel course, or to excerpt. It strikes me as a must-read for aspiring cartoonists and for anyone who wants to think more deeply about Clowes' work.
mrjoe's review
2.0
I've been a huge fan of Clowes since buying the original Eightball comics 25 years ago. The best thing about this book was re-reading some of the stories that I hadn't seen in years. However, some of the essays made me feel like I was grading college papers. And the pages of unnecessary footnotes explaining every little detail were absurd. Thank you for telling me who the Ramones are in a footnote. WTF?
A lot of the writing sucks all of the power out of the work by overanalyzing it. A simplistic Freudian explanation of comic book themes is not what I was looking for here. And if I want Baudrillard quotes, I'll read Baudrillard. And oh, the irony of feeling like a character in a Clowes comic who is criticizing something for being trite, and that something is essays about Clowes comics.
I highly recommend reading Daniel Clowes Interviews instead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8146365-daniel-clowes-interviews?from_search=true
A lot of the writing sucks all of the power out of the work by overanalyzing it. A simplistic Freudian explanation of comic book themes is not what I was looking for here. And if I want Baudrillard quotes, I'll read Baudrillard. And oh, the irony of feeling like a character in a Clowes comic who is criticizing something for being trite, and that something is essays about Clowes comics.
I highly recommend reading Daniel Clowes Interviews instead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8146365-daniel-clowes-interviews?from_search=true
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