(Bought for $16 at the Strand) Daniel Clowes' latest graphic novel is a weird collection of interrelated stories following the life of the title character as she searches for the mother that abandoned her when she was a child. Each of the stories is in the style of a different comic genre--sci-fi, romance, war, detective, etc. The stories take us from Monica as a little girl to alienated teen to successful businesswoman to late-middle-aged lady selling candles at a crafts fair. Events in the history of America parallel Monica's story as she looks for meaning and connection while everyone in her life seems to leave her. She attempts to find meaning in a supernatural connection with her dead grandfather, and then in business, then in a bizarre cult, finally finding a sort of peace in solitude. But it gets shattered in the end. Some of the critics of Clowes' previous work Patience attacked him for focusing on a douchebag male hero screwing up the poor heroine's life. Perhaps here he's trying to make up for it by spotlighting a female protagonist. The ending is rather abrupt and bleak without resolving Monica's quest. I liked Patience more, but I do find Clowes' work fascinating.
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