Customer Reviews

French Milk

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I am very interested in travel, anything French especially Paris as I have not yet been and have always been interested in comics and cartooning so this book was a real treasure to find. I liked the simple style and also the musings on everyday things in life. I felt like I was on this trip with Lucy and her mom. I am planning on using it as a bit of travel guide, for when I finally make my trip, also as a mother/daughter team. I would love to read more books by her...how about one set in NYC - my favorite place in the world!

The Glass Castle author Jeannette Walls once told me that memoir should be universal, and I've kept that in mind ever since when I read them. What I think she meant is that while a memoir is specific to the storyteller in the details, anyone should be able to relate to it, somehow. As I read Lucy Knisley's French Milk, I was struck by her storytelling, but also her age, use of photography, and that I could never write such a book, though I too have traveled to Paris with my mother.

The fact that her divorced parents are on good terms, a fact she casually drops in, resonated with me, especially when her father comes to join them for a brief visit during their six-week trip. This would never happen in my divorced family, and it made me, briefly, jealous--again, this goes back to Walls's maxim; my life circumstances may not be the same as Knisley's, but hers caused me to reflect on my own. She also exhibits a particular pride and faith in her work (with the occasional doubts), one that I still struggle with in my early thirties. Her dedication to her art and the creation of this book are apparent. Other moments are brief but powerful, such as going up the Eiffel Tower on a particularly windy day, where Knisley writes, "You could feel the tower move in the wind and see the birds blown off course."

I was torn as to the value of the photographs she included; at first, I thought there was something unfair about it, but then I came upon one of her kissing a wall and realized there was no other way to capture that moment, at least, not so thoroughly. The photos are used sparingly, without comment, filling in gaps in her story, fleshing them out and creating what feels more like an intimate scrapbook than a memoir, albeit an accessible one.

French Milk is a travelogue, and as such, sometimes the details of each meal become less interesting toward the end. But it's Knisley's personality, and little details that make this book so charming, whether it's the odd characters she meets or her feeling low on a particular day or railing against a piece of bad art, going so far as to name the artist, who's made a rendition of Paris Hilton, by name.

I finished the book a bit jealous of Knisley's closeness with her mother, and impressed that she managed to finesse both the details and the bigger picture, a portrait of a young woman just starting out in "the real world," but taking a detour to a city full of pastries, lush dinners, cemeteries, art and adventure before she does so. French Milk will appeal to Americans who've, like Knisley, fallen for Paris, and those looking to recapture their college traveling days. As for me, I'm giving a copy to my mom, and hope that our travels are as fruitful.

As a francophile and frequent visitor to Paris, I identified with so many of the author's experiences and observations. Walking home from the Eiffel Tower early New Year's morning - yes! Having an amazing dinner at a small unpretentious restaurant after being turned away from a trendy one - yes! An altogether enjoyable read.

I love memoir, travel writing, and graphic novels, so I thought I'd enjoy this book. The problem, as another review noted, is that there isn't much substance here.

Instead of insightful reflections on her experience, this book briefly recounts Knisley's daily banalities. Not that journals can't be fascinating--graphically, the form was put to good use by Phoebe Glocker in the fictional "Diary of a Teenage Girl." But in "French Milk", the supposedly charming observations about Paris, food, and mother-daughter relationships that the book blurbs promise are either sparse, ham-handed, or shallow. This is the Paris of francophilic tourists--the Eiffel tower, art museums, shopping, food-- and not an illuminating encounter with a complex metropolitan center or its people.

Neither the text, the illustrations, or the photographs work at a sophisticated level themselves, and they don't come together well either, since I found the inclusion of the photographs jarring and distracting.

To do this type of writing well, an author needs to carefully manage the relationship between individual personal experience and the larger significance of it, especially if the story itself is not compelling. And this book doesn't manage to do that. Gabrielle Bell's "Lucky," a chronicle of apartment hunting, low paying jobs, and artistic exploration in Brooklyn is a much better autobiographical piece by a young aspiring cartoonist.

I found myself frustrated with Knisley by the end of the book, both in the triviality of her problems, and for wasting my time on a narrative so unfocused that it was a bit like the misery of being subjected to someone's travel slide show.

Occasionally the book succeeds at being cute-ish and whimsical, but not always, and the tongue-in-cheek moments aren't enough to save the book. If Knisley eventually becomes a famous cartoonist, this will be a curious artifact of her past. But on its own merits, I would give it a pass.

Lucy Knisley and her mother spent January of 2007 in a Paris apartment to celebrate Lucy's mother's 50th birthday (and Lucy's 22nd.) They rented a small apartment in the 5th arrondissement. Lucy had one more semester of college and hoped to go to graduate school for cartooning. While she was in Paris with her mother, she kept a journal and her book, FRENCH MILK is the result of that journal.

FRENCH MILK is a quick read, since it's a graphic travel memoir. It does include photographs as well as drawings, which I found unique. I was hooked as soon as Lucy mentioned Tintin and Milou, since our sweet dog is named after Milou.

We lived in France fifteen years before Lucy's trip, and we never lived in Paris, but this book still brought back lots of memories for me. This book is named after Lucy's love of French milk - she said it came in bottles and was very fresh. I found this interesting, because the only milk we ever saw in France came in a box - it was pretty nasty and most people wouldn't drink it.

This book was a lot of fun and I think anyone who loves Paris or who would love to visit Paris will enjoy it.

There were two books I was delighted to come across this month (the other one was Winter in Taos by Mabel Dodge Luhan). The first one, French Milk by Lucy Knisley, is an 193 page graphic journal, small-format, mostly drawings (with handwritten captions) and about 4 dozen full-page b & w photos. It encompasses a little over a month spent living in an apartment with her mum in the bustle of Paris right after Christmas the year the author (a comic book artist from Chicago) turned 22. It was first published in 2007. The travel details are just darling; there is a surfeit of delicious food described and illustrated, and flea-market finds and book reviews abound! Lucy is a bit self-absorbed and hormonal, but she realizes it, cracks (visual) jokes about it, and moves on (sort of).
Another reviewer suggested she would love a Knisley New York City travelogue. That would be cool, but NY has been done alot - how about a little volume about living and working in Chicago? Ms. Knisley?

I picked up this book because it incorporated photographs with the standard graphic novel. The artwork and unique manner of incorporating drawings and photographs are top-notch.

However, the story of the author and her mother spending a month in Paris really doesn't go anywhere. There's lots of writing about the food and visiting various sites. However, the author getting depressed and stressed while on vacation was annoying. Let's see, you have rich parents who can afford to take you to Paris for a month and you are going to lay around whining about your life. Smacks of pampered privilege to me, which I'm not interested in reading about.

Despite that, however, the art makes for a decent story about a month in Paris, although nothing is exactly ground-breaking.

French Milk is ADORABLE! We get to see Paris through the eyes of Lucy Knisley, a smart, funny, self-revealing, and thoroughly likable young artist. As Lucy and her mother explore Paris together, Lucy draws, photographs, and describes what she sees and feels. This is not a gaspy love letter to Paris, but a very intimate portrait of a young woman trying to find her way in the world. I lived in Paris for one summer as a young student (20 years ago!) and it was so interesting to compare Lucy's observations with my own. I particularly enjoyed her list of "Strange things about our apartment," her descriptions of the food they ordered, and her honest reactions to frustrating travel experiences. Thanks, Lucy for a terrific book--I hope you'll write many more!

I added this to my wish list after having it recommended to me some time ago. It arrived today and it was a pleasant read on the train home.

Each page taken alone really shows how strong her ability to tell a story through the mixture of words and art. I enjoyed her style of illustration and felt it was well suited for piece. Her penwork keeps the work flowing quickly and gives you just a taste of the scene.

I had two problems with the work. Each page, although interesting on its own, really had little relationship to the others other than being set in chronological sequence. Although the book was very clearly described as a journal of her time in Paris I was expecting something to tie it all together.

The other issue was the lack of character development. Its autobiographical but I need to relate to the author as a character since I don't know her as a person. There's not much to introduce me to this obviously talented 22 year old cartoonist. The people around here were mentioned but there wasn't much to grab onto about her relationship with them. I didn't get much of a sense for Paris either.

I enjoyed reading each page but really didn't feel that they work with each other once you slap some glue along one edge and put a cover on it.

I bought this book on a whim at borders today about three hours ago, i originally went to borders to sketch the coffee shop as i so often do, but became very side tracked with this book as soon as i got home i began reading it and just couldn't put it down, Lucy's stories of paris are adorable and funny, and in so many ways (as I am struggling artist in my 20's as well) she was very easy to relate too. I thought it was a fantastic book! and although a book made up of mostly pictures would obviously be an easy read. it kept my attention. I'm going to buy her other works right now. Keep it up Lucy!