Reviews

Beautiful graphics, decent story. I was expecting something different...something more clown-centric. A man living in Lima, Peru comes to terms with his father's death and dishonest life.

Took a drive to the bookstore… but I didn’t have anything specific in mind to buy. Looking through the graphic novels section saw a few books I wanted to take with me, among them: Day Tripper by Fábio Moon & Gabriel Bá and City Of Clowns by Daniel Alarcón. I always like to read a little bit about the authors when picking a book, I feel like it makes a difference on how the story will be written out. To my surprise, the author and illustrator of City of Clowns are from Lima, Perú. Naturally I read it AT ONCE.

In one word: Magnificent.

There are two factors that will affect how much you’ll like this book:
1. Where you are from 2. How open minded you are.

For me, I loved it and found it to be magnificent because this story was so poetic, yet it felt 100% real. I know the streets and kind of people he describes in the book. This story is literally many people’s story in Perú (and perhaps many other third world countries). So why is it so magnificent if it’s tells the same story many other people share? Because of the way he tells it. Alarcón’s choice of words, the swaying between the past and present of the character's life was something that added to the mood. This books touches on family relationships, culture, love and more. What brought it all together were Sheila Alvarado’s illustrations. Every line she drew translated the perfect feeling for each conversation. The book also had little spot illustrations with something related to the chapter that just made the book even more authentic. If you are also from Perú, some things will make you chuckle (the slang) and some things will make you incredibly sad. There is no better book that the one that leaves you thinking about the end for a very long time. The design, the words, the illustrations, the story, everything, 5 stars.
If you liked Craig Thompson’s books: Habibi and Blankets, I highly recommend you read City of Clowns It’s a short read and you will not be disappointed. If you are not a fan of graphic novels, then you haven’t lived my friend.