Customer Reviews

The Alcoholic

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(24)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Alcoholic is the story of Jonathan A.'s introduction to drinking and the life he leads thereafter. While he starts with alcohol, he eventually ends up with a drug addiction as well. Aside from this, he is also emotionally dependent; he finds himself particularly obsessed with certain relationships that he cannot seem to escape. Perhaps this emotional disturbance, coupled with what seems to be poor self-confidence as a teen, create the void he desperately tries to fill with his addictions.

Throughout the story, he deals with many things that other people deal with i.e., same-sex experimentation, failed relationships, death, disease, 9/11. However, Jonathan chooses to deal with stress and emotions by drowning them in alcohol or drugs. He seeks help from time to time, but it seems inevitable that he will fall back into his old ways at the first sign of stress. The saddest part of the story, to me, is that Jonathan A. manages to be successful in many aspects of his life despite his emotional and chemical dependencies. I can only imagine what he could have accomplished if not for the addictions.

Given the name of the main character and the resemblance in the artwork, I have entertained the idea this may be a semi-autobiographical work. At the very least, it would seem to be intended to make a reader consider the possibility. Such a work would fit somewhat with some of the 12 Steps - making a moral inventory, admitting the nature of wrong deeds, making amends, and carrying the message to other addicts. In the story Jonathan A. (a nod to anonymity in meetings?) says that he goes to a couple of AA Meetings at the urging of his rehab therapist, but does not find it to be something he thinks will help him. Maybe these steps are something he took away with him that he thought could help.

By far, the most wonderful part of the experience for me was the artwork. I feel the visuals and storyline are woven together well, each making the most out of using the other. I think the choice to keep it in black and white was a great one because it adds a certain seriousness and gravity that can sometimes be destroyed by the addition of color. It may also speak to the fact that the narrator sees his life as occurring in two parts - sober and not - which have great contrast. The faces of the characters convey a great deal of emotion; much more than would be present in a simply textual description. In some instances, such as Jonathan waking up inside a trashcan with his own vomit, having the visual depiction makes it both more comical and more sad at the same time.

When I read a book, I always try to wait a couple of days before I decide how I feel about it. Sometimes you cannot adequately judge the experience right away. My initial reaction to this book was that I did not find the story to be that compelling. However, once I took the time to really think about it and look at it from some different angles, I found that there was much more to the story than I originally believed. There were layers that I did not see at first, and once I realized the depth, I found that I had a better understanding of what the book had brought to me. In a sense, I feel like I have an increased understanding of what it is to be an addict and a better appreciation of the hopelessness and pain involved. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to understand the addiction of a friend or loved one.

I just sat down and read The Alcoholic from cover to cover. I think I put it down once to check on the kids. Other than that, I immersed myself in it. Ames takes you right inside his world, the highs, the lows, the humiliating moments, and those rare moments of insight that each of us get in small doses from time to time. Best of all, he avoids the temptation to slap a happily-ever-after ending on it, leaving things open and ambiguous, but hopeful. A great read, and the drawings by Haspiel add a lot. The book reminded me of Legal Tilt, which I also recommend.

In this (memoir? autobiographical novella?) in the form of a graphic novel, author Jonathan Ames has chosen to tell us about his struggles through life as an alcoholic (and addictions to other drugs). While the story is engaging enough for an entertaining read, I felt there was nothing new here that hasn't been told a hundred times before by other alcoholics in other memoirs and bios (one is never a "recovering" alcoholic). More interesting are the milieu in which our hero ("Jonathan A.") resides. We have some 9/11 scenes, we have some sex scenes, we have some author-reading-in-public scenes, and some "lost weekend" scenes. All in all, a fair graphic novel--not bad at all, but not great either.

Those looking for action and adventure in their graphic novels need to look elsewhere. Jonathan Ames has provided us instead with a very compelling and readable account of one man wrestling with his own life and, more fundamentally, his psychology towards that life.

Despite the title, THE ALCOHOLIC is not necessarily about one man's struggle simply with the bottle. Rather, the protagonist, Jonathan A., struggles primarily with his deep sense of isolation, meaninglessness, and all those other existential dilemmas that Germans have some depressing word for. Alcohol and drugs are not ends unto themselves, but paths that tempt Jonathan to tranquilize himself from such pain. The temptation, though, comes at a cost.

Ames' portrayal of Jonathan A. is really quite good and no doubt many readers will empathize with his feelings of alienation, even if the reader's experience of the same has never rooted itself so deep. This alienation is even more poignant as various characters about whom Jonathan A. truly cares keep slipping through his fingers for one reason or another. His feelings for the girl whom he `loves' but who just blows him off time and again will particularly hit the target with more than a few male readers, not only for a good portrayal of emotional states many have experienced, but also providing, painfully, an objective view of just how ridiculous the situation is as seen from the outside.

Dean Haspiel is an excellent choice for the art work accompanying the text. Serious but often with an undertone of humor, his crisp drawings parallel the mood evoked by the storyline. Together with Ames, the collaborators have produced a very enjoyable book for a subject so dark.

"My name is Jonathan A. I'm an alcoholic," states the protagonist of The Alcoholic --- a thinnly vieled version of its author Jonathan Ames, whose prior works include: I Pass Like Night, The Extra Man, What's Not to Love?, My Less Than Secret Life, and Wake Up, Sir! And like so many other fellow alcoholics, Jonathan A. has a bittersweet story to tell of loss, despair, self-obsession and self-destruction. But it wouldn't be a Vertigo title if the book didn't include some laughs and a touch of surreal weirdness, like Jonathan A. waking up from a hard night of boozing in the horny clutches of an elderly little person. But this fictious graphic novel, expertly rendered by Dean Haspiel of Harvey Pekar's The Quitter, does not reach the same hights as nonfiction bio-projects, such as, Art Spiegelman's Maus or Peter Kuper's Stop Forgetting to Remember. Thou entertaining, it lacks an emotional honesty --- a trate that if combined with the book's serious subject matter would have made The Alcoholic truly unforgettable.

This is a beautiful book. The story is beautiful, the drawings are beautiful. And it's funny as hell. I took this book with me to the DNC in Denver. I read some of it on the plane there and finished it on the way back. The Alcoholic fit in quite swimmingly with my other reading material about Barack Obama's pragmatic economic proposals to free us from our addiction to oil and Karen Armstrong's new book about the Buddha. Why do I mention this? Because I feel compelled to respond to the few lukewarm reviews that seem to suggest that the subject matter of this book is self-indulgent or narrow, or as one reviewer claims, the book lacks anything "new". If you read only for "newness", then perhaps this book will not float your boat. After all, what is merely new is often the most shallow. But if you read in order to more deeply understand yourself and others, if you read in order to change your individual and thus our collective consciousness, if you read in order to make visible how all things personal are political and all things political are personal, then you will not have wasted one second of the precious life you are living by reading the Alcoholic. I am a long time fan of Jonathan Ames because, simply put, all of his work expands my capacity to love. Beautiful book Ames/Haspiel , I loved it!

The Alcoholic is a graphic novel (story by Jonathan Ames; art by Dean Haspiel).

It chronicles the period in the life of a writer/alcholic-drug user named Jonathan A.

The novel opens with Jonathan waking up in a car with an old lady and then it goes into a flashback of when Jonathan began to drink as a teenager. It then progresses through different stages of his life from college to working as a cab driver while trying to get his novel published to being a published writer who checks himself into rehab after waking up with his head in a trash can after trying coke for the first time. From there, the reader follows him as he struggles through staying off alcohol and drugs; through love (romantic and familial); and through one very big moment in recent history.

Ames writes his narrative in a straightforward and humorous style so that even when his main character is at his worst, the reader can feel sorry for him but not too much because Ames allows his Jonathan and the reader to recognize the absurdity of it all. The prose works well with Haspiel's bold, Art Deco graphics. The art has the classic look of the 30s while still being firmly rooted in the present time. The subject matter was sometimes uncomfortable to read but between Ames's low-key humor and Haspiel's clean art, that discomfort had the right effect in that I could still like Jonathan even when he was being completely foolish.

Being a fan of manga, I would put this graphic novel in the "slice of life" category in that it presents slices of Jonathan's life on view rather than telling a story with a beginning, middle and end. The reader gets glimpses of his life from the lovely (his relationship with his Great Aunt Sadie was wonderfully depicted) to the horrific (September 11th) to the surrealistically absurd (take your pick on this one because Jonathan experiences quite a bit of the surreal and the absurd) to his continued struggle to stay sober.

If the reader is looking for a graphic novel of the action-oriented kind, this novel is not for that reader. But if a reader is looking for a graphic novel that has an interesting story, a surprisingly engaging if flawed main character and isn't looking for a story with a clear beginning nor a clear ending, then this novel is worth a look.

Overall, I would give The Alcoholic a solid 4 stars.

If you're looking for a graphic novel that tells a strange but fascinating story with excellent black-and-white artwork, look no further than Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel's "The Alcoholic". Ames has written a funny, sad and cautionary tale about the life of an alcoholic--a sexually confused and hopelessly romantic novelist named Jonathan. On the back cover it says the character only bears a "coincidental resemblance" to the real-life Jonathan, which is a relief since the imaginary one leads an anguished existence filled with much heartache. As we follow the novel's Jonathan on his journey to find a lasting connection with anything besides a bottle of booze or cocaine, even Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky show up in separate cameos. Obviously "The Alcoholic" isn't a feel-good novel--it's dark and often disturbing--but I couldn't put it down. Haspiel's gritty artwork only adds to the book's overall emotional experience--and the final frame is perfect, leaving both Jonathan and this reader wanting more.

Writer Jonathan Ames and artist Dean Haspiel present what may be the most haunting story I have been exposed to this year. "The Alcoholic" unfolds like an articulate AA confessional, and is so interesting that I completed the 136 page graphic novel in one sitting.

Is this fiction or is this a life story? It is presented as fiction, but it is so convincingly human that the reader suspects that many of these events transpired in reality years ago. The story is honest, revealing the flaws and weaknesses of the main character... so honest that it has to be real.

The artwork is penciled in black and white and grey-toned cell shaded. The art is crisp and clear, and the use of contrast is definitely the gift of an experienced artist. Each panel is pleasant to look at and very easy to interpret.

The story though... it will haunt you. This is real adult drama here, nothing that a kid should read. There are graphic sex scenes, but they are not gratuitous. The sex is part of the story, and without it something would be missing. The sex is not here to arouse, it is here to tell the story.

This is a bare-knuckles story about hard drinking. The real deal. Slamming them back, stumbling through the haze of a multi-day bender, sweating it out, and doing it all again.

This story will haunt you long after you finally turn your eyes from last panel.

"The Alcoholic" is an interesting read but ultimately a sad one. The story tells the tale of a man who is suffering from many addictions. The story opens with a similar thought: "how did I ever end up here?" And so we go back in time to learn about his upbringing and his coming of age. About mid-way through the book, you'll catch up the present and then address the horrors of 9/11 and how he copes. Or doesn't.

The story is well written and it is hard to not feel sad reading it. I found it painful to read about someone who has such an open wound. It makes you question is alcoholism really biological or something emotional as well. I know that is a debate that others have had but it's definitely interesting to ponder reading this. The inks are also in keeping with the story's more somber mood. Definitely an adult read. Definitely an intersting read as you've got an adult story here. It's hard to recommend 100% when the story line is so dark so I leave it up to you if that is your thing.