A review by lauren_endnotes
City of Clowns by Sheila Alvarado, Daniel Alarcón
4.0
A father with a secret family. A forgiving and loving mother. A chance to hide in plain sight and research clowns. All under the grey skies in Lima, Peru.
Alarcon's City of Clowns previously published as a short story and later adapted for this graphic novel with a friend and illustator, Sheila Alvarado. It's a melancholy story: musings and memories of childhood, a man stricken by grief after the death of his father - who had another family on the side. All of this comes to light while Oscar's newspaper asks him to write a piece on the street performer clowns that are working political protests in the plaza.
Oscar decides to join the clowns for a day, riding city buses, performing in silly clothes, shoes, and makeup, and marveling when people he knows do not recognize him in this attire. He finds some freedom in this, even going to the neighborhood of his father's other family and seeing his half brothers, finally seeing his mother, the only one who does recognize him in his costume.
The story flows in and out of present - intertwining stories of youth and memories of his father. This switch between times may have been more confusing in written word, but it flows well in graphic form.
It's a thoughtful book with beautiful art. I hope to see more work by both Alarcon and Alvarado.
Alarcon's City of Clowns previously published as a short story and later adapted for this graphic novel with a friend and illustator, Sheila Alvarado. It's a melancholy story: musings and memories of childhood, a man stricken by grief after the death of his father - who had another family on the side. All of this comes to light while Oscar's newspaper asks him to write a piece on the street performer clowns that are working political protests in the plaza.
Oscar decides to join the clowns for a day, riding city buses, performing in silly clothes, shoes, and makeup, and marveling when people he knows do not recognize him in this attire. He finds some freedom in this, even going to the neighborhood of his father's other family and seeing his half brothers, finally seeing his mother, the only one who does recognize him in his costume.
The story flows in and out of present - intertwining stories of youth and memories of his father. This switch between times may have been more confusing in written word, but it flows well in graphic form.
It's a thoughtful book with beautiful art. I hope to see more work by both Alarcon and Alvarado.