From Publishers Weekly
The series of sketches that make up this memoir are arranged by the author/narrator's age, beginning with before her birth, when we see her parents meet in Japan. In bold, graphic black and white drawings, sometimes reminiscent of Marjane Satrapi, the author describes a frankly startling range of shenanigans in her early teenage years. These include long stints as a runaway and many sexual and romantic entanglements along the way. Never flinching from the down and dirty details of what went on with all these guys (and, eventually, girls), the author gives a refreshing and poignant look at early sexual experience and romance, including the actually dirty, the tragic, and the semisweet. Unfortunately, this "résumé" doesn't present in-depth exploration of the character holding them all together. It comes as a surprise, for instance, when she runs away from home and stays away for three months, with the emotional ramifications of that only nominally acknowledged by the quick summary of her later maturing process in an epilogue. MariNaomi does a wonderful job of painting a series of portraits of moments of adolescence, capturing its awkwardness and strangeness and excitement, but a greater whole never emerges. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review
“MariNaomi is a true original. This sometimes harrowing tale of young love made me rock with laughter and wince with sympathetic mortification.” (Armistead Maupin, author of
Mary Ann in Autumn and
Tales of the City )
“Despite offering an abundance of convenient stopping points,
Kiss & Tell insists on not being put down until you’ve read every sordid detail. MariNaomi’s romantic resume is extensive and messy, but it’s a funny and rewarding wreck to watch.” (Jeffrey Brown, author of
Clumsy and
Funny Misshapen Body )
“
Kiss & Tell gets love, sex, and everything in between exactly right. Reading MariNaomi’s graphic memoir is like reading my own childhood journal—if my journal were extremely funny and well drawn.” (Amy Bryant, author of
Polly )
“This book isn’t merely a laundry list of men that Mari has dated over the years; it’s the earnest story of a young woman’s tumultuous, hilarious and heartbreaking youth. It’s also smart, funny, original and compulsively readable.” (Julia Wertz, author of
Drinking at the Movies and
The Fart Party Volumes 1 & 2 )
“Let’s hear it for a sexual coming-of-age that, for all its bumps, isn’t about victimology and regret. In
Kiss & Tell, MariNaomi outlines in bold, woodblock-style graphic nonfiction just how a girl does it in this day and age.” (Elle )
“Girlish innocence and disarming candor mark this graphic memoir. Whether she’s writing about threesomes, foursomes or the possibility of moresomes, MariNaomi exudes a sweetness undefiled by experience…. Though there are some dark interludes, this is ultimately a celebration of a girl’s life, from larva to wings.” (Kirkus Reviews )
“Picaresque, but down-to-earth, “Kiss and Tell,’’ winningly marries its spare, gestural, black-and-white style to its capricious though thoughtful tone. The soulfulness and even loneliness she expresses is all hers.” (Boston Globe )
