Clumsy, a book review
February 9, 2007
This is a review of Clumsy, a graphic novel by Jeffrey Brown.
Clumsy is an autobiographical story of love which begins with Jeffrey and Theresa falling for each other while on a summer road-trip with mutual friends.
Written and illustrated by Jeffrey Brown, the story of their year together as long-distance lovers is told through a series of snapshots of their times on the phone as well as their monthly trips to visit each other.
The writing is similar to that of Liz Prince’s Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed? in that it is very slice-of-life. The stark honesty in the tale shows not only the moments of love and happiness, but also the arguments and times of depression that occur in their relationship. By including both the good times and the bad, Brown proves the adage true, at least from the point of view of a reader, that the bitter times make the sweet times sweeter. He might disagree with that though, as he’s the one who actually experienced those times.
As Brown is shockingly honest in his tale, it makes the book hard to read at times, as the depression felt by Jeffrey carries through from the page and can have a strong impact on the reader. He isn’t afraid to point to his own quirks and deficiencies and how they contributed to the dark moment of lost love. That honesty in his storytelling keeps the story real for the reader, making Clumsy a hard book to put down.
Clumsy is the kind of book I don’t think I’ll sit down regularly and re-read in its entirety, even though I enjoyed it the first time around. The emotion was, at times, too much to thoroughly enjoy, even though I did appreciate it. On the other hand, I do have a feeling I’ll crack it open every once in a while just to flip to a random page and get a dose of joy or sorrow, depending on the vignette.
Warning: The book contains explicit content. Reader discretion is advised.
Bibliographic and other information:
Brown, Jeffrey. Clumsy. Marietta: Top Shelf, 2006.
224 pages. Paperback. ISBN 0971-3597-68.
Clumsy at Top Shelf Productions website.
Sample pages:
Images (c) 2006 by Jeffrey Brown. Used by permission.
“Clumsy” actually predates Liz Prince’s “Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed?” by almost five years, so the comparison should perhaps be reversed.
I just went through a huge Jeff Brown consumption phase.
I can safely say that Clumsy is as good as it gets. Tread no further.