Book Review: Monica

(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.

Book Review: Patience

(Borrowed from NYPL on 40th St., 3rd floor graphic novel section): Amazing read. Daniel Clowes' dazzling sci-fi thriller reads like a movie. I have loved all of his work including Wilson, Ghost World, Ice Haven, and Caricature. An economically oppressed couple is expecting a baby. Suddenly the husband comes home to find his wife killed in an apparent botched break-in. He spends the rest of his life trying to bring her back as we travel into a bizarre future. The panels spring right off the page, sometimes blurring over the edges to suggest the weird psychedelic trip the husband takes through time and his own consciousness. The portraits of working-class despair and random cruelty are heartbreaking. The title is ironic as Patience tries to piece together the jumbled mess her obsessed hubbie creates in his misguided efforts to save her.