leilaniann's review
5.0
I have found my new calling in life - to read comics and graphic novels. My short attention span is being heavily rewarded by Nat Smith and his vast collection.
kickpleat's review
4.0
I really like Phoebe Gloeckner. "A Child's Life" is anything but a normal child's life, but it' was Phoebe's and yet there's some kind of universal hope present. Life hands you shit and you go through it and come out the other side. I loved Gloeckner's "Diary of a Teenage Girl" when I read it years ago and this is nearly as gripping.
kendrastrand's review
5.0
I will be thinking about this for a long time. Gloeckner is an incredible artist, and it took me a little time to pick up on the way she used changes in art style and straight-up distortions to magnify the horror and trauma in all the ways she was abused, especially when the dialogue and narrative is presented in such a mundane and seemingly neutral tone.
Several other reviewers have noted the disgusting introduction by Crumb, and yeah, it's bad. But I also wasn't prepared for Gloeckner's foreword (which, for the record, is extremely powerful, and gives us a glimpse into the grit that got her to where she is at this point). This was my first time reading her work, and I wasn't aware of the content yet, so I was fascinated but slightly bemused at the self-portrait with pemphigus vulgaris, especially paired with the last lines of her foreword:
Returning to that, after having finished the collection, the portrait and foreword have a completely new tone-- not just deep sadness, but there is self-love and healing there, too.
Yes, for sure, this one is going to stick with me for a long time.
Several other reviewers have noted the disgusting introduction by Crumb, and yeah, it's bad. But I also wasn't prepared for Gloeckner's foreword (which, for the record, is extremely powerful, and gives us a glimpse into the grit that got her to where she is at this point). This was my first time reading her work, and I wasn't aware of the content yet, so I was fascinated but slightly bemused at the self-portrait with pemphigus vulgaris, especially paired with the last lines of her foreword:
I am well aware that you can't be too sure of anything -- always expect the worst, while retaining a faint (secret) hope for the best, I say.
One more thing -- I didn't *really* ever have pemphigus vulgaris
Returning to that, after having finished the collection, the portrait and foreword have a completely new tone-- not just deep sadness, but there is self-love and healing there, too.
Yes, for sure, this one is going to stick with me for a long time.
laleha's review
3.0
While I am still enraptured with Phoebe Gloeckner's art, this didn't have a fraction of the story arc or cohesion as Diary of a Teenage Girl.
mhall's review
4.0
I had forgotten what a difficult book this is to read. Gloeckner captures the powerlessness of children when adults abuse them sexually and say inappropriate, unhealthy, boundary-crossing things. Directing sexually inappropriate remarks to children is horrifying, and Gloeckner conveys the manipulative head games and the creepiness unflinchingly and directly through her drawings and dialogue
The book is divided into rough sections: childhood, adolescence, and in the back a handful of portfolio illustration pages. The adolescent stories are more about drugs and passivity and the rougher side of the streets of San Francisco.
The book is divided into rough sections: childhood, adolescence, and in the back a handful of portfolio illustration pages. The adolescent stories are more about drugs and passivity and the rougher side of the streets of San Francisco.
cutiejoy's review
5.0
Anna let me borrow this and I let her borrow "Diary of a Teenage Girl". I didn't know Gloeckner taught at U of M until Anna told me either. This was completely comic book, so it was easy to read quickly. It is actually insane how much detail she puts into her art - apparently she was a medical illustrator for a while. It's disgusting how creepy her mom's boyfriends are (and other men too).
2kimi2furious's review
4.0
This book wasn't nearly as soul crushing as Diary of a Teenage Girl was, probably because it wasn't as long and I was already sorta familiar with some of the subject matter. Still really fucked up, though. Pheobe Gloeckner is a super human to have come out on top of all of that.