Customer Reviews

A Child's Life and Other Stories

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

How well do you we really know even our nearest and dearest? How do we project adult sexuality on children, and what are the consequences of this drive? How does an artist take the ugly and sordid materials of her early life and make of them something altogether beautiful, inspiring? These questions are all explored in this big book of Phoebe Gloeckner's "comic" art and writing, which I consider the book of the year. A legend in the world of underground cartooning, and in the avant-garde circles of San Francisco Bay Area high art and poetry, Gloeckner takes on a variety of charged social and sexual issues and, in one dazzling tour de force after another, treats them thoroughly, artistically, with the depth perception of a brilliant novelist, challenging our conceptions of experience, hope, debasement and youth like a modern-day Henry James. At the end, the author seems to have triumphed over her rough beginnings and to have found love and self-respect. W! arning: I wouldn't give this book to kids, but what do I know? Its rough language and troubling sexuality may be just the mirror to their own lives that they need and want and can profit from. As Gloeckner shows us so vividly, we are all on a long journey, and the pain, fear and loneliness of childhood can only be transmuted into acceptance and wisdom through the crucible of expression.

A Child's Life is hard to read but even harder to turn your eyes away from. Her child-like drawings combined with adult events and content perfectly express the difficult adolescent limbo between girl and woman.

This collection of Phoebe Gloeckner's comics is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it's worth a reading. If you haven't read her novel, Diary of a Teenage Girl, I think you will find this book a better introduction to her work. The themes are much the same and the comic art is very well done.
The subject matter is pretty bleak.

What was most disturbing about this book was how much responsibility the author seems to take for all the horrible advantage that was taken of her in her childhood and early teens by disgusting lecherous old creeps. The drawings are often graphic and I"m not all that fond of that peculiar "alternative comics" (comix??) drawing style, but the stories are powerful, and ring so true, that anyone that's had a life similar to Phoebe Gloeckner's really ought to check this book out.

I was very saddened to know that life of this young child can be considered to be normal...until the child grows up. I felt in every line drawn an emotion was spilling off of the page...the words were so carefully chosen...the detail in each frame is fascinating. This author is more than a comic she is a master of the arts.

I can't say enough about this author/artist. I've just finished reading the book and am almost speechless. For anyone out there still dealing with demons of their own less than perfect childhoods, this book takes on the feel of a close friend in the same situation. The author, in a semi-autobiographical fashion, recounts a childhood of sexual abuse, drug abuse, and general coming-of-age well before it ever should. Full of amazing illustrations (Gloeckner is a lauded medical illustrator as well as excellent cartoonist), this book is sure to please anyone looking for something different, and in my case, cathartic. I don't think I could begin to recommend this book highly enough. I'm just glad that I live in a day and age where this book is not only allowed to be published, but can earn accolades as well (the least of which is from me). Thank you, Phoebe!

"A Child's Life" by Phoebe Gloeckner is like witnessing a car wreck or a street fight: you are horrified and appalled, but you can't stop looking. This beautifully drawn book gives graphic insight to the devastating impact of psychological and sexual abuse on children and teens, but also portrays the importance of facing and overcoming bad early life experiences in order to have a productive adult life. In my lifetime, I have known too many people in their 30's, 40's and even 50's who suffered childhood/adolescent problems that seem minor compared to what "Minnie" endured, and who continue to use their past problems as an excuse for continuously messing up their lives throughout adulthood; "A Child's Life" should be mandatory reading for these folks. Without doubt, a childhood of abuse and neglect is horrible, but we do ourselves and our society a disservice when we rely on it to excuse our own bad behaviour and avoid growing up and moving on with our lives. Phoebe Gloeckner is a new kind of hero who survived a hell on earth and bravely lived to tell the tale in an intelligent and scorching manner. (N.B. This book should not be given to children or young teens; it would frighten them. Older teens, depending on their maturity level, would find this book compelling and cautionary.)

I feel saddened that what seems like normal life to this child was in the hands of adults...what a life time of terror. Every page of this book emits a multitude of emotions. The author's words are only half as captivating as the lines she's drawn. The detail is amazing. This is not just any comic but a master of the Arts!!!