CRUDDY: An Illustrated Novel | Lynda Barry

CRUDDY: An Illustrated Novel | Lynda Barry | horror and sickness and joy

books:

CRUDDY: An Illustr...

	CRUDDY: An Illustrated Novel Lynda Barry Simon & Schuster, 2000 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 90 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

Amazing imagination!!!

I had never heard of Lynda Barry before getting a tip about this book from another Amazon reader. For some reason I was expecting something along the lines of Phoebe Gloeckner's "Diary of a Teenage Girl"...graphic novel about girl coming of age in the 70's, etc.
But this is no memoir--at least, I hope not! It isn't really even a graphic novel in the traditional sense; Barry's crude paintings (done with charcoal? paint? hard to tell) interspersed throughout the narrative evoke the dark and ugly mood of the book perfectly, but they're miles away from comic-book realism.
This is a wildly-imaginative, horrifying book about Roberta Rohbeson, the story itself made even more surreal by the copious amounts of drugs and alcohol she as the narrator consumes, both as an 11 and 16 year old.
Roberta is tormented and abused at the hands of her nomadic father, who takes her on a roadtrip littered with corpses and who calls her Clyde and introduces her as a mute mongoloid. This is a girl who considers herself so ugly as a result of his violence, she becomes uncomfortable when people even glance her way. She's pitiable in the most obvious sense, but she's also smart and tough--and carries a knife named "Little Debbie" to protect her from the evil she (rightly) expects to encounter at every turn.
There's shenanigans and drug-and-alcohol induced exploits, of course, which drew comparisons to "Fear and Loathing" on the jacket cover, if I remember correctly. But it's not a one-trick pony, as Barry's character development skills are stunning. There's Roberta herself, her dim-witted and hysterical sidekick Vicky Talluso, the Father (referred to only as such), an erstwhile druggie hookup named Turtle, the flabby abusive hillbilly bartender Pammy, and many more. I can't make this stuff up, but Lynda Barry can.
Read it!!! Read it in the dark before you fall asleep. Read it when you're feeling sad. Read it in the most incongruous of settings--in the park, at the beach, on a sunny day. Despite its ugliness, it will make you smile.

for more information click here

horror and sickness and joy

really, how can one book make me want to put it down and pick it up at the same time? this is an incredible, nauseating, lovely, and hilarious piece of literature. even though i felt sick at times, it's because many of the feelings she describes as our jaded and wonderful narrator are familiar and real. of course, not many of us, if any, have led a life quite like hers. read this if you want an amazing journey to the trashy side of life, but one with many many colors and smells.

Captivating

First, this is the first book review I have written on Amazon.

Second, it'll probably be the only.

Cruddy is an amazingly well written book. Throughout the book, I felt as though I was actually living out the terrible events of Roberta Rohbeson, and wasn't able to put the book down. Lynda Barry makes you believe the events leading up to, and the events following the Lucky Chief Motel Massacre actually happened, and are being told first person by it's main character. It is definitely a dark, horrific story, not for the faint of heart. It is proof that what doesn't kill us does not necessarily make us stronger, as despite all of her travails, Roberta is still a self-conscious little girl, looking for someone to like her, even if it is a drug using lunatic, a self-centered, loud mouthed classmate, or a murderous father. Amazing book....

for more information click here

Its not intended to be "LIttle House on the Prairie"

This is one of my two favorite books of all time: Geek Love and Cruddy. Yes, its dark, but compelling and well written. My cousin passed it on to me two years ago and since then I've read it three times and passed it on to numerous people. To be honest...whether a person can read and appreciate this book is how I judge the real "them". The few acquaintences I lent it to that returned it back to me early and horrified turned out to be shallow, wanna-be perfect types and those who it left thinking (though disturbed, of course) were insightful and interesting...just my observations.

for more information click here

How I love this book

Linda Barry is one of the most fearless writers out there. Her creation of Roberta and her world is gutsy, shocking, wry, and tender. Barry has a ruthless eye for detail and a narrative so
strong that you can't stop reading, even when you want to. Put
Roberta in Russia and you'd have Lilya-4-ever.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13

products you might be interested in