A deluxe compilation of the first five years of James Kochalka's ground breaking daily diary comic strip. Since October 1998, James Kochalka has kept a daily diary, drawn in comic strip form in his sketchbook. Drawn with relaxed and beautiful brushwork, these strips perfectly capture the rhythm of daily life. From the hilarious to the sad, from the poetic to the drunken, these strips offer a direct and intimate portrait of the life of one of America's most important alternative cartoonists. This ambitious and deluxe, perfect-bound volume collect the first five years of Kochalka's diary. Contains a full-color section.
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Book Description
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
This massive collection of Kochalka’s cartoon diaries covers five years of his life. Each day is represented by a cartoon capturing a single moment of the day. These moments range from a haircut to reflections on nature to funny exchanges with friends, with each moment getting just four panels. Kochalka has a facile, expressive line; his lush brushstrokes convey both emotional meaning and a real sense of place and season with minimal fuss. In fact, this is a minimal book packed with a tremendous amount of personal detail. As a cartoonist, Kochalka is a great reducer, conveying more in one or two panels than many cartoonists do in one or two pages. On top of that, he makes readers consider the simple pleasures of voyeurism—why do we want to read about his life? Why does he want to discuss it? It’s the tone of these reality-television times, and, frankly, Kochalka is entertaining. Unlike some autobiographical comics, whether readers personally like the James Kochalka depicted here is almost irrelevant, because half of the fun is simply engaging with his level of detail and day-to-day tribulations. Some of these are trite, others flaky, and still more are funny or touching. But, as they say, that’s life, and Kochalka does a solid job of capturing the roiling stream of everyday consciousness without straining our acceptance.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
Since October 26, 1998, independent comics creator Kochalka has kept a journal in comics. Each day's square of one, two, three, or the conventional four panels illustrates a nice or funny or pointed exchange between him and Amy, his wife; an encounter with their cat, Spandy; an interchange with a friend; recording or performing with his rock band; bike riding or driving; partying or traveling; attending a comics convention; appreciating, or not, the pleasures of the day; struggling with that day's entry. Utterly candid, the strips include nudity and bodily functions because, after all, they are everyday phenomena. Kochalka depicts himself as an elf, with buckteeth and long, pointed ears that lead many to mistake the representation as a rabbit. Only once is another comic mentioned: Peanuts, on the day Charles Schulz dies. That is indicative, for Kochalka's work is as graphically innocent as Schulz's, though less intellectual and far earthier in content. It's as if sweet gross-out filmmaker John Waters had reconstituted Schulz's classic with and for grown-ups: vulgar but lovable. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a huge fan of both his music and his comics, and this diary strip has entertained me for years. Finally collected, hopefully the world will see the genius behind this strange man. Similar to Peanuts in some ways, although not innocent, the ideas he captures have a simple, everyman quality, to which anyone can relate. Burlington, VT residents and visitors will see the town and its activities in new ways, and gain a further appreciation for them. If you only buy one item from James' vast output, this is the one to get. It captures a side of James that even your mother would enjoy.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By sam paul
Format:Paperback
This was my first introduction to James Kochalka's beautiful work. I recommend his big American Elf book to anyone who wants to get an overall sense of who he is and what he does. The daily comics are deceptively simplistic because you only get a sense of the complete tapestry of James' life after reading several in a row. Eventually you get to know all about James, his wife Amy and his cat Spandy over the course of five years.
Our little elf (and even by his own admission he does look like an elf) is neither self-absorbed nor self-deprecating. This mosaic of daily life will leave you addicted and hungry for more excellent work from James Kochalka.
Also features a cute introduction from Moby.
Our little elf (and even by his own admission he does look like an elf) is neither self-absorbed nor self-deprecating. This mosaic of daily life will leave you addicted and hungry for more excellent work from James Kochalka.
Also features a cute introduction from Moby.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
James Kochalka draws his comics in a minimalist fashion. At the same time, it could be argued that his American Elf strip is therefore closer to the artistry of the form - each pen stroke is closer to the original eye-to-hand portrayal than the most refined comic strip panel ever could be. Or at least, that's the overwhelming impression upon the reader (who frequently feels as if the same task could easily be replicated by him/her, yet so rarely is able to capture any such essence present in a single Kochalka panel).
To those unfamiliar with American Elf, it is best described as a daily comic strip diary of James Kochalka's life as lived through his surrogate character, "Magic Boy." Magic Boy is an elf whose life parallels that of Mr. Kochalka, from shared homestead, occupation, family, and even name. Though fully aware of the strip's presence in their daily lives, the characters in American Elf live "outside" the realm of the strip. From day to day, the predictability of the strip's format never denigrates into predictability of content - a one-liner from Kochalka's wife is given the same treatment as a close friend's wedding, an acknowledgment that even the most special days in a life are comprised of exactly the same units of time, though that day's events and emotions aren't subject to the same rules.
In short, American Elf is a celebration of life - and not just the happy, memorable bits. Rather than a self-absorbed look into his own daily accomplishments and observations, Mr. Kochalka presents some of the less-than-glamorous moments as well; a chat over the coffeepot, or a trip to the toilet, or a stroll along Lake Champlain, or a display of temper.... Read more ›
To those unfamiliar with American Elf, it is best described as a daily comic strip diary of James Kochalka's life as lived through his surrogate character, "Magic Boy." Magic Boy is an elf whose life parallels that of Mr. Kochalka, from shared homestead, occupation, family, and even name. Though fully aware of the strip's presence in their daily lives, the characters in American Elf live "outside" the realm of the strip. From day to day, the predictability of the strip's format never denigrates into predictability of content - a one-liner from Kochalka's wife is given the same treatment as a close friend's wedding, an acknowledgment that even the most special days in a life are comprised of exactly the same units of time, though that day's events and emotions aren't subject to the same rules.
In short, American Elf is a celebration of life - and not just the happy, memorable bits. Rather than a self-absorbed look into his own daily accomplishments and observations, Mr. Kochalka presents some of the less-than-glamorous moments as well; a chat over the coffeepot, or a trip to the toilet, or a stroll along Lake Champlain, or a display of temper.... Read more ›
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By ivyspies
Format:Paperback
This is a beautiful piece of work. Within these pages you see the diary comics of our Every-Elf. Lyrical in its poetic simplicity, we go on a journey following the life of Magic Boy, vicariously making sense of the rhythms of Kochalka's daily life, spanning the first five years since the inception of his diary comic. Delightful are the observations he shares, that range from profound to silly, from funny to plain. Neither self-grandising nor self-deprecating, here is a biographical piece that when taken in whole will leave you addicted and wanting more, because we recognize something that looks so simple on first glance, but is acually quite a feat--art not imitating, but rather capturing one of the many glistening beams that glow from this thing we know as life. Don't be fooled by each day's strip; taken separately they are deceptively facile, but step back and you see the wonderous mosaic we have been given via James Kochalka's Collected Sketchbook Diaries.
By MangoWOW
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love these little slice-of-life comics and James knows how to do it right while mixing in the perfect amount of fantasy that is life. I love how he can write about the simplest little things and make the real world seem magical. James Kochalka is a very much underrated artist and writer, and although he's stopped his daily comics I think the world needs to put some of their attention on his because this man has talent.
Format:Paperback
Meet James Kochalka. At the time this diary starts it's 1998 and he's a fledging comics artist. He lives in Vermont in a flat with his girlfriend Amy. He works part time as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant and Amy works in a school. Each day he draws and writes a 1-4 panel strip about his day. The panels are done in black and white and are about a single moment in that day that stands out for him.
The book is quite large, not quite A4 size but near that, and the pages run to about 400 or so. It's a massive brick of a book. When I found out about it this time last year I was a bit hesitant (especially with no reviews on Amazon to guide me!) but ordered it anyway. I'm so glad as I discovered a fantastic artist. I've now read about a dozen of Kochalka's books and the American Elf strips are among the best of his work.
It's a huge book but I became engrossed in Kochalka's world as I saw him go through the everyday things we all do but also see him get more popular and see his life change in other ways. His music becomes marginally more well known but his cartooning becomes more popular and the American Elf strips develop with he and Amy deciding to start a family. In Volume 2 you see Kochalka move toward colour strips and the drawing becomes more refined. Looking at the latest American Elf strip on [...] today 18 Aug 2009 and the first one way back in 1997 you can see how far he's come as an artist.
I also highly recommend his graphic novels "Fantastic Butterflies" and "Monkey Vs. Robot".
It's fun, it's got energy, and it tells the real life story of James and Amy Kochalka. American Elf Volume 1, the adventure starts here!
The book is quite large, not quite A4 size but near that, and the pages run to about 400 or so. It's a massive brick of a book. When I found out about it this time last year I was a bit hesitant (especially with no reviews on Amazon to guide me!) but ordered it anyway. I'm so glad as I discovered a fantastic artist. I've now read about a dozen of Kochalka's books and the American Elf strips are among the best of his work.
It's a huge book but I became engrossed in Kochalka's world as I saw him go through the everyday things we all do but also see him get more popular and see his life change in other ways. His music becomes marginally more well known but his cartooning becomes more popular and the American Elf strips develop with he and Amy deciding to start a family. In Volume 2 you see Kochalka move toward colour strips and the drawing becomes more refined. Looking at the latest American Elf strip on [...] today 18 Aug 2009 and the first one way back in 1997 you can see how far he's come as an artist.
I also highly recommend his graphic novels "Fantastic Butterflies" and "Monkey Vs. Robot".
It's fun, it's got energy, and it tells the real life story of James and Amy Kochalka. American Elf Volume 1, the adventure starts here!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Heart warming and hilarious
I only hold back a five star rating because this volume is in black and white. (The online comics are generally in bright colors.)
Published on November 18, 2009 by J. Garson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, funny, and a little dirty... awesome!
I was introduced to American Elf by a friend and have kept reading the daily strips for more than a year now. Read more
Published on August 6, 2009 by Bonnie Svitavsky
1.0 out of 5 stars
It amazes me that this guy got published.
I just can't stand James Kochulka. I thought it pertinent to post here since the people who bought the book are obviously already fans. Read more
Published on December 21, 2008 by R. Kelley
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Artist's Life - As An Elf
What an interesting idea artist and musician James Kochalka had one day in 1998. Why not draw a daily comic strip documenting the little things that happened in his life? Read more
Published on January 17, 2008 by Michael Mihalik
5.0 out of 5 stars
more kochalka
see my review for volume 2... this volume rules in terms of kochalka. very inspirational cartoonist/artist, his so-short stories expand your mind!
Published on December 15, 2007 by Marc
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great cartoons
I had no appreciation for this comic book artist before an instructor "forced" us to read it. Boy am I glad he did! This is the bomb... flowing, magical little stories. Read more
Published on December 15, 2007 by Marc
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