Scan barcode
midnighterbae's review
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
3.25
Joe Matt is one hell of a cartoonist (RIP) but objectifies women (Especially Asian and Latina ones) so much in this comic. This is real warts and all autobio shit.
phenaproxima's review
fast-paced
4.0
I'm not sure Joe Matt is a good person, and he definitely treats women poorly, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't find this book funny and entertaining. His depiction of himself is very honest and fearlessly self-deprecating; it's hard for me to NOT be at least a little charmed by an author so totally willing to look like an asshat. Although its vibe is distinctly different, I like The Poor Bastard for many of the same reasons I like Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Having said that, I'm pretty sure I'd feel differently about this book if I were a woman. As I said...I don't know if Joe Matt is a good person. (Based on his own telling, he isn't.) But he's definitely a good cartoonist.
Having said that, I'm pretty sure I'd feel differently about this book if I were a woman. As I said...I don't know if Joe Matt is a good person. (Based on his own telling, he isn't.) But he's definitely a good cartoonist.
aprivateislander's review
4.0
Ah, an insight into the mind of a proto-incel type. Joe Matt's comics don't paint him in a good light, but that's what makes them so interesting. This is the story of a loser in 90s Toronto, and it's bleakly honest in its portrayal. He confesses to exaggerating and half truths in this one, but even still it remains more true than a lot of other biographical comics. Props to Joe, the poor bastard.
turboshot49cents's review
3.0
I'm not offended by the content or anything, and for the most part the writing and dialogue was pretty good. But after awhile it seemed like I was reading the same thing over and over again. I should cut him some slack, since this is a collection of diary comics and not a fictional narrative, but I probably won't read any of the other books that follow this. I read this because the author was recommended to me, and I feel this book alone gives me a pretty good idea of what he's all about.
amalelmohtar's review
4.0
"I really want you to read this book but I'm convinced you'll hate it from the first page!" said my Glaswegian, eyes glinting with a barely concealed desire to see me despise this book.
It's pretty freakin' excellent in how relentlessly awful Joe Matt's character is, and how unflinchingly (and even, dare I say, eagerly) that awfulness is displayed. It's like a tremendously heavy-handed Shortcomings where the heavy-handedness is its own art form, and the approach to its realism is as deliberately stylised and stunted as the art.
It's pretty freakin' excellent in how relentlessly awful Joe Matt's character is, and how unflinchingly (and even, dare I say, eagerly) that awfulness is displayed. It's like a tremendously heavy-handed Shortcomings where the heavy-handedness is its own art form, and the approach to its realism is as deliberately stylised and stunted as the art.
corpuslibris's review
3.0
As one of my coworkers said, there is something about these comics that remind me of Woody Allen. Perhaps the level of self-depreciation. But I really love Joe Matt's drawing style, facial expressions, and when he expresses indecision or shock by drawing his character with two heads. Love that!
bashbashbashbash's review
3.0
Oh Joe Matt. I keep compulsively buying and reading your books, despite their dedication to chronicling what an unpleasant human you really are. I'm a critic of slice of life autobiographical comics, but there is something about Matt's bad-spirited chicanery and misery that makes his comics compelling.
I read Spent first and then backtracked to The Poor Bastard. The former chronicles Matt's slow decline into a porn-guzzling shut-in. Reading them in reverse is a little sad, especially when one considers the glimmers of good character in The Poor Bastard (he assists a neighbor having a stroke and rescues a pigeon). While even Matt's best-intentioned decision are tinged by his stubbornly unpleasant disposition, one sees, somewhere in there, a person who wants to do his best and be happy. Unfortunately Matt is too obsessed with objectifying "exotic" girls, saving money, wanking and collecting memorabilia to actually notice that the manner in which he conducts his life appears to make him profoundly unhappy.
Compulsive reading.
I read Spent first and then backtracked to The Poor Bastard. The former chronicles Matt's slow decline into a porn-guzzling shut-in. Reading them in reverse is a little sad, especially when one considers the glimmers of good character in The Poor Bastard (he assists a neighbor having a stroke and rescues a pigeon). While even Matt's best-intentioned decision are tinged by his stubbornly unpleasant disposition, one sees, somewhere in there, a person who wants to do his best and be happy. Unfortunately Matt is too obsessed with objectifying "exotic" girls, saving money, wanking and collecting memorabilia to actually notice that the manner in which he conducts his life appears to make him profoundly unhappy.
Compulsive reading.
hogsandwich's review
1.0
It's really hard to distance yourself from a book and write about it objectively when the protagonist/antagonist/author is so completely abhorrent.
More...