Funeral of the Heart [Paperback]

Leah Hayes (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 9, 2008

A world of dreadful mystery is explored in this exciting debut.

Funeral of the Heart is Leah Hayes' stylistic tour-de-force and graphic novel debut, featuring a series of short stories by Hayes and illustrated entirely using the otherworldly medium of scratchboard. Hayes creates a world of unease and ambiguity populated by obsessive characters, forlorn animals, and mysterious, inanimate objects; odd occurrences, unnerving deaths and unconventional but genuine love bind these characters and their stories together. In "The Bathroom," a middle-aged couple discover a mysterious tunnel in their poolhouse after a neighbor's child accidentally drowns in their pool—leading to an immaculate bathroom and another drowning. In "The Needle," two sisters suffer the death of their grandmother as well as her possible resurrection at the hands of the woman with the needle.

The stories are hand lettered and juxtaposed against stark, highly stylized, graphically powerful, black and white images. Stories with titles like "The Bathroom," "The Needle," and "The Hair" sound innocuous, but they aren't fables that should be read to one's children—unless your children enjoy being made uneasy by beautiful things.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A bizarre, disturbing debut collection… (Neel Mukherjee - The Times Online )

The stark beauty of the black-and-white medium, already hallucinatory, is intensified by the fairytale-like surrealness of the five stories… (Neel Mukherjee - The Times Online )

Sadness with joyful imagination and compassionate humor; a bitterness that tastes great. (Matilda Tristram - Plan B )

Menacing, cruel, tender and freakish, these stories…seem to have stepped out from Hayes’s rich, febrile dreams. (Neel Mukherjee - The Times Online )

About the Author

Leah Hayes lives in Brooklyn, NY, and performs in the band Scary Mansion.

Product Details

• Paperback: 120 pages
• Publisher: Fantagraphics Books (April 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560978880
• ISBN-13: 978-1560978886
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,779,106 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bizarre, January 15, 2010

By 

Selib (Connecticut) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Funeral of the Heart (Paperback)

If you're purchasing this product please note that it does not really fit into the category of a graphic novel. This is a collection of five short stories with minimal character development and unsatisfying plot resolutions. There are "graphics" followed by pages of paragraphs. The stories end abruptly perhaps purposely to enhance the sense of futility they bring. If this book had more depth of feeling it might be better. If you're looking for a quality graphic novel I would suggest "A Contract with God" by Will Eisner.

1.0 out of 5 stars Dirge, May 17, 2010

By 

Sam Quixote - See all my reviews

This review is from: Funeral of the Heart (Paperback)

This book is appalling. The drawings look like they were done by a five year old, the stories have no weight to them and are the meanderings of an inexperienced and clueless writer. To be honest, it's mostly just large, unsightly drawings of unrealistic humans with no expressions followed by entire pages or white writing on black. Hayes uses the scratchboard technique to tell her boring stories and it's only this that warrants mentioning Thomas Ott and Frans Masereel. Ott and Masereel are real talents, creating unforgettable images and crafting brilliant stories with their work. In fact even just mentioning the two in relation to Leah Hayes is doing them a disservice. If you're interested in comics and/or scratchboard stories/pictures done well then avoid this book completely and check out Thomas Ott and Frans Masereel. What were the publishers thinking?