January 2, 2009

Review: Clumsy

I completed my first book for the challenge, reading Jeffrey Brown's Clumsy this afternoon. Clumsy documents a year in life of a long distance relationship between Brown and a girl named Theresa. It's graphic and intimate, almost painfully so, and the way it's drawn and put together gives readers the sense of reading someone's journal, peeking uninvited in their sketchbook, or peering through their bedroom window. It's that personal. Brown is deliberately unflinching in his portrayal of the relationship, and sometimes it's uncomfortable reading, but it's impossible to look away. Many scenes are tender and sweet and are sure to remind readers of their own young love. As stated in the synopses on Powell's, there's a lot of sex. But it's possible to look past all of the sex to the heart of a work that's pretty bold and heartfelt. I definitely enjoyed it for it's rawness and honesty. It's a quick read, but deserves time and consideration for full impact.

[cross-posted at my blog]

3 comments:

Mishel (P.S. I Love Books) said...

This sounds really interesting. Short and simple review, I like it! I definitely will look into this GN.

Beth F said...

Wow. Great review! I'll look for this next time I'm at the bookstore.

Unknown said...

I've found that it is really easy to start skimming without realizing that I'm doing that. But these kinds of introspective graphic novels really do need more time and consideration. Great review. I'm adding this to the TBR. :)