Jimmy Corrigan. Il ragazzo più in gamba sulla terra

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Jimmy Corrigan. Il ragazzo più in gamba sulla terra

4.13 of 5 stars 4.13 · rating details · 10,627 ratings · 716 reviews

This first book from Chicago author Chris Ware is a pleasantly-decorated view at a lonely and emotionally-impaired "everyman" (Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth), who is provided, at age 36, the opportunity to meet his father for the first time. An improvisatory romance which gingerly deports itself between 1890's Chicago and 1980's small town Michigan, the reader...more

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Published 2009 by Mondadori (first published January 1st 2000)

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Sep 15, 2007 Kyle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love me some graphic novels but I don't pretend that the vast majority of them rise to the level of serious literature. Most of the time I look for the large number of books out there that are "clever" (as in, better than 90% of TV) as a mindless respite between novels. And in the case of ones such as Louis Riel, Berlin, or Maus, I get a little bit of education without trudging through a 600 page history book.

Jimmy Corrigan, though, is one of the five or six graphic novels I've read that have...more

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Mar 23, 2007 Jay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: People with eyes, brains, gasping capabilities

I'm surprised that GoodReads doesn't allow a sixth star for this book alone. I can not say enough great things about Jimmy Corrigan. Honestly, it changed my life, and I can't imagine anyone not being in awe of its mathematics, literally and figuratively. This book is like the Catcher in the Rye for graphic novels. It raised the bar and it will not be matched for a very long time. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Breathtaking and deep. Brilliant.

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Dec 04, 2012 Elizabeth La Lettrice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: art, graphic-novels, books-for-book-lovers

I wanted to give this one 3 stars but I bumped it up with the following explanation:

There is definitely genius here in this book, though I was too absorbed in other things to fully see it. I had to do an inter-library loan for this book and it finally came when I had already gotten deep enough into Les Misérables's more duller parts. I was afraid that if I stopped reading Les Mis, I might stop forever (oh, the horror!). Then Hurricane Sandy bitched her way into NY and that was yet another distra...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Kayfor4me rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Imagine life eclipsed by imagination. The bloodiest, the most beautiful, the most vulnerable imaginings, and the disintegration of wishes as we make them. This is how life unfolds in the mind of Jimmy Corrigan, the desolate main character in Chris Ware’s graphic novel. Jimmy speaks full sentences—only when he imagines. In his mind he has courage, kills people, commits suicide, has sex, and is “the smartest kid on earth.” In his actual life, Jimmy is a spineless, aging man, with no friends and no...more Imagine life eclipsed by imagination. The bloodiest, the most beautiful, the most vulnerable imaginings, and the disintegration of wishes as we make them. This is how life unfolds in the mind of Jimmy Corrigan, the desolate main character in Chris Ware’s graphic novel. Jimmy speaks full sentences—only when he imagines. In his mind he has courage, kills people, commits suicide, has sex, and is “the smartest kid on earth.” In his actual life, Jimmy is a spineless, aging man, with no friends and no romantic ties. It is only with some courage and equal trepidation that a reader might see his/herself in Jimmy. With a little of both, I found that I could. And I did. It’s the language of this piece that I identify with most. This book assembles history, memory, and make-believe in such a poignant way. It speaks a language that reflects how we build the narrative of our own lives. A single moment in the novel can span across several illustrated panels that call the reader to absorb information—to taste and savor the moment—and hold off on situating it within the chronology of the story, at least not immediately. Jimmy’s imagination works alongside the narrative to shock and dissemble it. You never know what to expect. His imagination is so easily pierced, so fragile, that it bleeds. The image I see of this character, both figuratively and physically, is one of a big walking wound. Even in the story, Jimmy walks around bandaged most of the time.

As you may expect, this story is depressing. It’s not about plot or character development—these features of the narrative endure little change. Early on, we learn that Jimmy is abandoned by his father. A few pages in, we see Jimmy as an older, insecure, socially inept man. The story’s life carries on despairingly. Even after Jimmy gets a letter from his absent father inviting him to come visit, the father and son’s time together suffers from Jimmy’s volatile mind. Old memories, family history, and violent make-believe interrupt what could have been new development in the relationship between father and son. Time shifts between the past and present, with repeated returns to 1893 and the Chicago World’s Fair, the year Jimmy’s grandfather was also abandoned by his own father. We see here a pattern of father abandoning son. Jimmy remains lonely, unwanted, disturbed. He does not grow out of the mold. This instructs the reader not to wait for ‘what happens next’ but rather to give an eye to how moments flower. A single page may rest on capturing a memory, a sound, a place, even a bird, from different points-of-view. The sequence may be interrupted suddenly by a memory, by a violent wish. A new image may evoke a previous one, asking the reader to retrace his/her steps or to borrow and bring into play clips from an earlier scene. What’s special about the performance of this novel is that it uncannily reflects how we make into a story our own lives. It quietly captures how we edit our life time, moment by moment, on the fly, calling on memories, fears, visions, prophesies, to help us assimilate the conditions of our present world. This novel is visually and grammatically stunning. Yes, the story is deeply sad, but the language is arresting and beautiful.
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Jan 27, 2013 Geoff Sebesta rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read Jimmy Corrigan sitting in a Denny's in Florida in 2000, watching the Bush/Gore election returns. I just finished rereading it again today. It's nowhere near as depressing as it was the first time, but then, how could it be?

I remember putting the book down in 1999 when I got to the last page and realized the complexity of the joke that has been pulled on him, the author, and us. He will never be happy. It will never end, and never change. Superman is not going to save him.

This time it was...more I read Jimmy Corrigan sitting in a Denny's in Florida in 2000, watching the Bush/Gore election returns. I just finished rereading it again today. It's nowhere near as depressing as it was the first time, but then, how could it be?

I remember putting the book down in 1999 when I got to the last page and realized the complexity of the joke that has been pulled on him, the author, and us. He will never be happy. It will never end, and never change. Superman is not going to save him.

This time it was nowhere near as bad. Instead of thinking "He'll never be happy," I thought "Yep, he's still never going to be happy." It was less terrible. Of course, things have changed. We survived Bush. My friend that I went to Florida to visit in 2000 continued his inevitable decline, and inevitably died of an overdose, and has inevitably remained dead since.

Many of the things we worried about came to pass, and we survived.

Jimmy Corrigan is a living character in a way that most characters never dream of. Somewhere, right now, sandwiched between two sheets of cardboard, Jimmy Corrigan is alive, and suffering terribly. The book is a blueprint of his failed, miserable life, the lives that came before, the damp and clinging hope that maybe there will be lives after.

He is trapped. When you read the book you bring him to life, and that is the meanest thing you can do to him. But we are not trapped. This is a book about the 90s. Time has passed. The elder Mister Corrigan is certainly dead by now. Jimmy still hasn't found love. He still calls his mother every day. His journey to personal growth was to find that the journey was too far, that he can never do it.

But we can go visit him.

On the technical side, this book is a formal masterpiece and it's easy to see why it has dominated the visual conversation of the last decades -- this is the book that invents the language of cartooning that we use today. That said, I'm ready to move beyond it and try a new visual language with a bit more zip. But Jimmy Corrigan is a monolith, an era-defining book.(less)

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Jun 23, 2008 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A friend, a physicist actually, recommended this to me after I rolled my eyes at superhero comic books. It's really great, heavy stuff. In just episode 1, Jimmy gets to meet his hero at a convention, who macks on his mom, stays the night, ignores Jimmy, and then leaves Jimmy to pass on his regrets/greetings to the mom.
The big plot, though, is twofold. One, how Jimmy gets re-discovered by his father, who had earlier walked. It turns out the father had re-married, and the story of that family is...more

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Nov 06, 2008 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Incredibly sad. The impressive thing is most of the melancholy doesn't stem from overwrought, dramatic events but rather the eerily believable facets of Jimmy's life. The drab apartment buildings with neglected trees and empty parking lots, complete with a McDonald's arch in the distance. Jimmy eating a can of Campbell's soup by himself after stammering his way through a conversation with his overbearing mother. The shitty Thanksgiving decorations at the retirement home he visits.

Although the b...more

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Sep 08, 2007 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Some of my favorite books are graphic novels, and this one is second maybe only to Blankets. It's a sad, shockingly complex graphic novel that toys with your expectations of the comic medium. Jimmy's a lonely middle-aged man who's in an unhealthily co-dependent relationship with his also-lonely mother. He doesn't know who his father is--until the day he sees a man dressed as Superman commit suicide outside his office window. On that same day, he receives a letter and a plane ticket from a strang...more

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Nov 30, 2007 Nick rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, the technical quality of the art is certainly good, and it's formally inventive and all that, and it most definitely does an effective job at maintaining and conveying a consistent mood- if you were feeling charitable, you could even say that there's something kind of magnificent about it's overwhelming, unrelieved bleakness- but when I was finished I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the point of the whole thing had been. On quality I'd say it deserved three stars, if it wasn't...more

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Dec 01, 2008 Patrick rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I know this is the graphic novel to end all graphic novels but I have to say I wasn't terribly blown away. It was well laid out and pretty to look at but was almost cliched in its portrayal of a loner. Meh.

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May 08, 2013 Jen Hirt rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I gravitate toward graphic novels at the end of the school year, I guess because I'm desperate for something different. Jimmy Corrigan was this year's pick because I kept seeing it mentioned in articles about postmodernism, form, etc etc etc. It's a strange book without page numbers (it's 380 pages, which is One Long Graphic Novel) and every single space is filled with images or text, from the inside front cover to the inside back cover. It's also goddamned depressing. Jimmy Corrigan is a nose-p...more I gravitate toward graphic novels at the end of the school year, I guess because I'm desperate for something different. Jimmy Corrigan was this year's pick because I kept seeing it mentioned in articles about postmodernism, form, etc etc etc. It's a strange book without page numbers (it's 380 pages, which is One Long Graphic Novel) and every single space is filled with images or text, from the inside front cover to the inside back cover. It's also goddamned depressing. Jimmy Corrigan is a nose-picking social reject who has a molehill of mundane problems and a dark closet of serious problems. Oliver Sava from The Onion AV Club said it best: He tried a number of times to get through the book, "but was always too busy/happy to really devote my time to" it. So an "end of the semester pick-me-up" this was not.

Once I got used to the digressions and the almost stream-of-consciousness style, I was in to the psychoanalytic potential of what Ware is doing here. (The two-page "summary so far," located about 100 pages in, is a huge help, but the writing professor in me says if you have to write a summary 100 pages in, maybe you just need to redo those first hundred pages.) Get past that, however, and you realize it's actually the story of a long lineage of Jimmy Corrigans, from great-grandpa on down to our current Jimmy. But it's not told in chronological order, of course, so just get used to that. They all look the same, dress the same, react the same way to the trials of daily life. Just the background changes. Pretty brilliant, given that this is a graphic novel. And it all coalesces in the end. Others have commented that Ware is a master of the small moment, and I agree. His best pages are simple second-by-second frames of tiny happenings, such as a bird flitting through a neighborhood or Jimmy's half-sister growing impatient in a hospital waiting room. And the characters are represented so well with the most basic touches -- a saggy chin, a doughy neck, a perpetual frown, an ill-fitting jacket, or even just how Jimmy is always cowering behind his own hand. Symbols of Superman, peaches, horses, phones, and even bacon fill the book. I'm not sure it succeeds on each of its almost 400 pages, but enough of those pages were superb and intriguing.(less)

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Feb 04, 2013 Gina rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

HOLY FUCK. SERIOUSLY. THIS NEEDS TO COME WITH A WARNING.

Are you a well-balanced individual? Are you in need of a spell of serious depression? Do you like to torture your ability to sympathize with characters to the point you may experience physical spasms of anxiety for them?

WELL THANK GOD SOMEONE WROTE THIS BOOK TO FILL THAT SUNNY NICHE.

I'll admit the way the author laid out the book and illustrated it was phenomenal. I loved its unconventional layouts and unique visual narration; worth all th...more

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Nov 11, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I couldn't put it down. It was so revealing, sad and human at it's core. Uncomfortable at times when I was perhaps too able to relate to the characters but ultimately I was a satisfying read. A gentle reminder that life could be worse and that either way it'll end. While death is a part of the story it's not necessarily a main theme. The subtextual theme I pulled from it is the unfulfilled life, which I see as a form of death. The only kind of death that can be rattled away with a hard shake of...more

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Nov 04, 2012 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

So in my life to date I think I’ve read in the neighbourhood of a eight hundred books. A figure arrived at with the base calculation of 50 books a year for the last ten years + 30 books a year for the ten years between 6-16. A number of no consequence whatsoever except when contrasted with the six (total) graphic novels I’ve read: Spiegleman’s Maus I and II, Persepolis, Riel, and the Unwritten, and now, Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan.

I mention all this because I have a lot of practice deciding what...more So in my life to date I think I’ve read in the neighbourhood of a eight hundred books. A figure arrived at with the base calculation of 50 books a year for the last ten years + 30 books a year for the ten years between 6-16. A number of no consequence whatsoever except when contrasted with the six (total) graphic novels I’ve read: Spiegleman’s Maus I and II, Persepolis, Riel, and the Unwritten, and now, Chris Ware’s Jimmy Corrigan.

I mention all this because I have a lot of practice deciding what I like and don’t like about fiction (in the non-picture sense) and justifying those feelings with evidence from the text. I have, however, very little experience explaining why I do or do not like graphic novels (see my entry on The Unwritten for evidence) and so I am in the unfortunate position of writing that I LOVE Jimmy Corrigan and I have some sense of why, but it is, a very grasping sense. Graphic novels are not something I have enough experience with or training with to explain clearly, so take this proviso for what is and let me explain why (I think) I love Jimmy Corrigan.

1) There are beautiful sentences. True, graphic novels still have sentences, and I still recognize one them when I read it. Beautiful little gems peppered in dialogue and description that catch you and say ‘wham.’ (For a great article in defense of the beautiful sentence see 19 February 2011 Globe & Mail Books section back-page).

2) Pictures! Pictures that are not simply pretty, but add whole layers of meaning (to this admitted novice in picture-meaning-reading). Illustrations that captivate and confuse - where I spent time puzzling out not simply the direction of meaning (where do I read/look next?) but how the illustrations competed with the text, added to it, complicated it, and made it all the more weighty.

3) The plot. It jumps in time, space (dreams of robots), place and plausibility in ways that left this reader simultaneously confused and captivated. I worked reading this book to understand and appreciate not just the plot flow, but the significance of particular narrative asides and reoccurring symbols (a little red bird for instance, I finally worked out signaled a change in time).

I’m done with my list now. I also like Jimmy, but not so much as to put him in the list. He was a bit sniveling for my taste. Oh! That too! The perfect capture of sound in the text! I heard things as well as saw them.

So I’m more excited now for the other books in my Books with Illustrations category than I was before. Much more. Not so much as to read another one right away. My brain aches a bit. And I think I’ll review Scott McCloud’s stuff on graphic novels (thanks K. for the suggestion) before writing another analysis. Just in case those of you out there who care, care.(less)

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May 04, 2012 Paolo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dopo averlo letto, il ragazzo (piuttosto cresciuto, per la verità) Jimmy Corrigan accompagnerà per sempre il vostro immaginario depressivo. Solo, abbandonato dal padre, tormentato dalla madre con ossessive immancabili telefonate quotidiane, Jimmy sogna di indossare la maglietta di Superman e volare sopra i tetti delle città come l'alter ego di Clark Kent, ma la sua vita resta ancorata a una realtà precoce di abbandono e isolamento. La ricomparsa del padre, che lo invita improvvisamente a ricostr...more

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Apr 16, 2012 Sebastian rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Probably the first book I ever read solely due to Goodreads, Jimmy Corrigan boasts one of the highest total scores on this site, which I'm not ashamed to admit is why I finally got around to reading it.

I've read exactly one graphic novel before in my life, and that was the fairly underwhelming Watchmen, which I read, probably unfairly, in the midst of the build up and excitement immediately preceding the release of the film version. I've at times been surprised by the seeming defensiveness of v...more Probably the first book I ever read solely due to Goodreads, Jimmy Corrigan boasts one of the highest total scores on this site, which I'm not ashamed to admit is why I finally got around to reading it.

I've read exactly one graphic novel before in my life, and that was the fairly underwhelming Watchmen, which I read, probably unfairly, in the midst of the build up and excitement immediately preceding the release of the film version. I've at times been surprised by the seeming defensiveness of voracious readers of graphic novels to perceived slights against the form. Nevertheless, I'm one of those unfortunate folks that approach with healthy skepticism claims that the best of this particular form of fiction should be considered among the greatest novels of the 20th (or 21st century). As such, perhaps my haughtiness has contributed in some minor way to this most niche and nerdy (and mostly imagined) of clashes -- book nerds vs. comic book nerds.

Jimmy Corrigan as a work of fiction is a grower, a bit of a slow and confounding starter, but ultimately I found it to be quite emotionally engaging. It's a very sad story about multiple generations of familial discord and dislocation, about awkward kids becoming awkward grown ups, and about life's tendency not to live up to our dreams. Jimmy Corrigan himself is, bluntly, a zilch -- a whiny, mealy-mouthed neurotic who seems incapable of having a normal human relationship and who remains subservient to his mother, apparently his only real social outlet, into his 30s. Nevertheless, the reader, thanks to Chris Ware's skill, is keen to follow his travels and learn about him. This book, apparently slightly semi-autobiographic, explores some of the historical and psychological reasons for Jimmy's current state. As a brand new father, some of the painful scenes in this book were particular poignant. A number of distant/abusive/absentee father-son relationships are plumbed in this book.

I'm not well-versed enough to comment extensively on the art of the book, but its incorporation into, and indeed as the fabric of, the narrative, was one of my favorite part of Jimmy Corrigan. Whether it was art demonstrating with the subtly increasing clues the fact of a fantasy sequence, depicting a realization dawning on a character, or drawing parallels across multiple generations, the art helps fully absorb the reader's focus. One note: I was reading the soft cover, and I have, or at least at one stage had, great vision and some of the drawings and captions strained my eyesight a bit. Just something to keep in mind.

Of course, anything I have to say as concerns this book can be found in much more eloquent and expansive language here on Goodreads. The hive mind did not steer me wrong. (less)

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Mar 23, 2012 Rachel Lee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ok, Jimmy Corrigan - Smartest Kid on Earth, or as I like to call it, A Fabulous Exercise in Feeling Awful. Jimmy is one of the most sad-sack characters I've ever seen. He's a loner, dominated by his mother, escaping his hideously boring life only through elaborate fantasies. We follow Jimmy through a few episodes - meeting his father for the first time, his boring office life, etc. Jimmy is so pathologically pathetic it makes it difficult to sympathize with him. You just want to shake the loser...more Ok, Jimmy Corrigan - Smartest Kid on Earth, or as I like to call it, A Fabulous Exercise in Feeling Awful. Jimmy is one of the most sad-sack characters I've ever seen. He's a loner, dominated by his mother, escaping his hideously boring life only through elaborate fantasies. We follow Jimmy through a few episodes - meeting his father for the first time, his boring office life, etc. Jimmy is so pathologically pathetic it makes it difficult to sympathize with him. You just want to shake the loser out of him. But, I suppose that's the point of presenting such a flawed character. There are no heroes in the real world - something Jimmy learns early. (Literally - his childhood superhero idol turns out to be...a sleazy motherfucker.) Ware also weaves in a storyline following Jimmy's grandfather during his own dysfunctional childhood. Regardless of the time or place, Ware's characters are unrelentingly realistic and hopelessly damaged. The cycle of dysfunction passes from one generation to the next, and it really seems that Jimmy's fate will be inescapable misery. So, I was surprised when the ending took a (ever so slightly) optimistic turn. I wondered at my reaction - shouldn't I be happy that the unrelenting misery was finally relenting just a tad? Why did I feel cheated? I think I may have hoped Ware would carry the despondent tone to the limit. A happy(ish) ending just seemed...inauthentic to Jimmy's life. But, then again, perhaps I had taken the dim view of Jimmy that the rest of the world seems to have. Maybe wallowing in Jimmy's sad world had turned me into a HORRIBLE CYNIC! Or, maybe, I was one already.

Ware's stylistic choices and color schemes help orient the reader to the correct place and time for each vignette. For example, the 'period' setting for Jimmy's grandfather's story has its own specific font and color palette. I appreciated Ware utilizing the visual aspect of the graphic novel to advance the storytelling, rather than simply illustrating the action. Another interesting visual facet comes in the form of various playfully interactive additions - a quiz, maps, and instructions for interacting with the physical book. A good choice for a graphic novel so interested in the concepts of childhood and solitary imaginings.(less)

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Mar 23, 2012 Sechavar rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ware's graphic novel was difficult to read. Not always because of his flow, the order in which he intends the reader to read the separate boxes, but mostly because it was incredibly incredibly sad. I almost feel as though this was a long meditation on sadness and on loneliness. And in this long meditation, Ware has made a beautiful rendition of sadness.
The main character, although I am hesitant to call him that because there are other characters we come to know intimately, is Jimmy Corrigan, and...more Ware's graphic novel was difficult to read. Not always because of his flow, the order in which he intends the reader to read the separate boxes, but mostly because it was incredibly incredibly sad. I almost feel as though this was a long meditation on sadness and on loneliness. And in this long meditation, Ware has made a beautiful rendition of sadness.
The main character, although I am hesitant to call him that because there are other characters we come to know intimately, is Jimmy Corrigan, and he is the latest addition to a long line of sad and frustrated men.

The story is not linear, but after you have all the information, you're able to take a step back and see that the story started before the 20th century. The oldest character in the book, James Corrigan Senior, has memories of his childhood growing up in Chicago with his father, an over bearing man who struggles with his oncoming poverty, and eventually abandon's James at the Chicago World Fair. This abandonment effects him profusely, and the sense of sadness seems to become hereditary, and is passed down to his son, and finally his grandson. It manages to even take hold in his adopted black granddaughter.

One of my favorite aspects of the book is how similar Ware makes these male characters. The family resemblance is impeccably, especially between Corrigan Senior and his grandson Jimmy when they are both little kids. They share the same lank, thin hair, small eyes that, perched on top of round cheeks could be filled with delight one minutes and balling the next. They look like little boys with the heads of the old men they will become, perhaps to illustrate that they are particularly sensitive and will come to know and live through their fair shares of grief.

The plot is that the youngest incarnation of Jimmy Corrigan has heard from his long lost father, a man Jimmy can't remember ever meeting. He wants to have Thanksgiving together. Jimmy goes to meet him and learns that his father, while jovial, seems somewhat pathetic living in a cheap apartment, working at a cheap airport bar and with a particularly dated view of women. But his father also has a daughter, a young black woman who was adopted by a white woman who then married Jimmy's father. So in a strange turn, Jimmy senior and Jimmy the Younger, are seemingly adrift without family they feel particularly connected to, while middle aged Jimmy has had this young woman's affection for years, perhaps the defining factor in why he doesn't seem as sad as his predecessor and descendant.

The story is rather convoluted, but Ware does an amazing job getting the reader the information they need to decipher it. And most surprisingly he does this mainly without text. Many of the pages are just pictures, and the characters' facial expressions, reactions to awkward (sometimes INCREDIBLY AWKWARD)situations, and plain day dreams all serve to illustrate their desires, fears, and memories without relying on actual written language. It's a daunting undertaking, as can be seen by the sheer size and girth of the book. There isn't a single blank page. And while I've read the book, I still haven't READ the book. There's still a good hand full of things I can go back and read, and that's just the inside covers.

Ware's work has re-solidified the ability for pictures to tell a compelling story. After reading it I felt sad and bereft, and began to pay more attention to my own silences and the pictures that played out in my head, a central theme to this book. While a story about several characters and how they come to know sadness and loneliness in their own way, the book almost seems to be about just one person, the sort of entwined, single person that Jimmy makes with his great grandfather, especially the same awkward, lonely child they both were, and in may ways, still are.(less)

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Feb 08, 2012 Steven rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"Since he always did what he was told he deserved better treatment in general."

(Oh, graphic novel form, where all the best storytellers appear to live...)

Sorry, you weren't supposed to hear me like that, but sometimes when I think in the written format I find that I'm actually thinking aloud. But back to Jimmy. Is it enough for me to say that it's silly how good this book is? That on top of it all, it is just so pretty and so smooth? Or that I'll never feel the same saying 'Ha ha' again? How abo...more

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Feb 01, 2012 Keith rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

1. Now I have read it, so you can stop asking me if I have.

2. Almost didn't change the opinion I had of it before I read it. Deepened it, perhaps, not changed it.

3. Like a Paul Giamatti movie, multiplied by another Paul Giamatti movie.

4. Sad. Sadder than sad. Maybe not as sad as I worried it would be. Maybe it would have been sadder had I been sadder when I read it. Still, though.

5. Does a lot of clever things, a little ostentatiously. Very much a comic book announcing its existence all the way...more

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Oct 29, 2011 Katie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: male-author, graphic-novels

I thought this book was going to be a real winner. The reviews on the inside cover included praise from Dave Eggers and David Sedaris among others. The story takes place at a number of different time periods, so it gets a little confusing as to who is who, because you have to rely visually on knowing what a young Jimmy Corrigan looks like versus what his grandfather looked like as a boy, etc. What I love about graphic novels is that so often this happens completely effortlessly. Your eyes take i...more

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Aug 19, 2011 Matt Richter rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novel

i wanted to like jimmy corrigan very much because author chris ware has done something which i greatly admire -- which is to produce something quite innovative, it's a creatively unique approach to the graphic novel medium. and on that level it's very successful! he has a distinctive style and the layout of pages is interesting without being confusing. it really looks like a graphic designer or architect's take on the graphic novel deal. unfortunately i just found chris ware's semi-autobiographi...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Williwaw rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: comics

This is possibly the saddest book that I have ever read. Sure, it is a "comic book," but don't let the format fool you into thinking that this is light reading. This is serious, disturbing stuff. It's not totally lacking in humor, but the prevailing themes are loss, rejection, death, crippling emotional and physical wounds, alienation, and dysfunctional family dynamics.

Chris Ware is a genius of panelology (albet, extremely rectilinear panelology) and color. He's also good at employing leitmotif...more This is possibly the saddest book that I have ever read. Sure, it is a "comic book," but don't let the format fool you into thinking that this is light reading. This is serious, disturbing stuff. It's not totally lacking in humor, but the prevailing themes are loss, rejection, death, crippling emotional and physical wounds, alienation, and dysfunctional family dynamics.

Chris Ware is a genius of panelology (albet, extremely rectilinear panelology) and color. He's also good at employing leitmotifs, which recur in memories, dreams, or even in the actual present (a couple of examples: Superman, and a miniature toy leaden horse, both of which morph in uncanny ways during dreams, daydreams, and memories).

Come to think of it, the whole book is extremely non-linear. The basic storyline concerns a trip that the adult Jimmy takes to visit his father for the first time. Jimmy was abandoned by his father, either during infancy or before he was born. He and "Dad" are planning to have Thanksgiving dinner together during this trip, but Jimmy abruptly returns home for reasons that you'll have to discover for yourself. That is the basic "plot."

Upon this simple framework, Ware weaves the complicated fabric of Jimmy's memories, family history, daydreams, and fantasies. (Warning: there are plenty of disturbing sexual fantasies and incidents in this book, so you might not want to give it to your 9 year old son or daughter.)

Perhaps strangest of all, much of the book is devoted to the childhood of Jimmy's grandfather (at least, I think it's the grandfather), who was also abandoned by his own father at the Columbian Exposition (an extravagant "World's Fair" event in Chicago, 1893). Grandpa's Pa, a cruel bastard, takes nine-year-old Grandpa to a panoramic perch overlooking the city. The excursion is supposed to be a "birthday present," (a trip to the Fair) but in actuality, great-gramps has planned on dumping his kid off there in advance.

Most kids are terrified of abandonment, so you'd think that Ware would address this. Imagine that you are a child, brought by your father to the top of a large building. From a precipitous perch, you look over the city of Chicago. When you turn around, you realize that you are alone. You have been abandoned.

You would probably flip out. The terror would probably be compounded by the vertiginous, wide open space. But Ware stops here and fast forwards to the present. It turns out that Grandpa has been telling this childhood story to his adoptive grand-daughter, who is working on a family history project for school. Grandpa simply explains, in matter-of-fact fashion, that this is how he came to be brought up in an orphanage.

Perhaps Ware pulls out of the grandfather's story so abruptly because it strengthens the emotional disengagement of the narrative. We see so many painful things in this book, but for the most part, we are left to imagine the emotional impact for ourselves. Maybe this was a deliberate tactic. In a way, it makes the book more powerful. There is absolutely no psycho-babble in this book.

The first time I read this book, I had recently finished "The Devil in the White City," which is a True Crime/History book that focuses on the Columbian Exposition of 1893. It definitely made Jimmy Corrigan an even more interesting read!

One final warning: reading this book can be a logistical challenge, especially if you are the wrong side of 40+. The lettering is often so tiny that it's barely readable, and the flow from panel to panel can get somewhat complicated. So you need to have a high tolerance for the comic-book format and some good reading glasses. Also, this is not a quick read. Plan on spending about 5 hours on this. (less)

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Jun 15, 2011 Beaverton City Library Teens rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: graphic-novels, realistic

Jimmy Corrigan is a lonely guy: a jittery, unattractive middle-aged man trapped in a dead-end job. The days bleed into each other, his only escape being a fantasy realm where he dons tights and becomes the smartest kid on Earth. A grim history of parental abandonment, stretching all the way back to the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and down the Corrigan family tree, has culminated in Jimmy's insignificant existence. Jimmy's life finally takes a turn when he receives a letter from his estranged fa...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Joe Young rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abandonment, comics, graphic-novel, chris-ware

Chris Ware - Writer & Artist

A gorgeously rendered, achingly sad novel in comic form, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is a masterpiece of graphic novel fiction. The story follows the titular protagonist, an emotionally-stunted, 36-year-old man more comfortable in his fantasy life as "The Smartest Kid on Earth" than in the pathetic reality of his lonely existence. One day Jimmy receives a letter from the father he never knew, casually requesting a visit from his long-abandoned son. U...more Chris Ware - Writer & Artist

A gorgeously rendered, achingly sad novel in comic form, Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth is a masterpiece of graphic novel fiction. The story follows the titular protagonist, an emotionally-stunted, 36-year-old man more comfortable in his fantasy life as "The Smartest Kid on Earth" than in the pathetic reality of his lonely existence. One day Jimmy receives a letter from the father he never knew, casually requesting a visit from his long-abandoned son. Unsure what to do or even how he feels about this man he has never met, Jimmy is swept along on a tragi-comic journey to try bring some understanding and resolution to his own sad, messy life.

At times the structure of the graphic novel can be challenging for readers. The characters easily lapse into fantasy (which the reader is privvy to) and the stories of four generations of male Corrigans' are explored, which can be confusing as narrative switches occur abruptly and all four Corrigans' bear the same bald pate and slouching, doughy physique making it difficult upon first glance to differentiate between them. However, readers who manage to overcome the minor idiosyncrocies of this book will be richly rewarded. The art is simply amazing -- Chris Ware employs a spare and iconic syle (thank you, Publisher's Weekly) that is as effective at portraying the massive, architectural complexity of a Worlds' Fair as it is at portraying the lonely isolation of an abandoned child. I found myself re-reading passages just to be able to appreciate the delicate beauty of Ware's art; the man can communicate deep, profound sadness and loss in just four precise panels. Similarly, the story is trimmed of any unnecessary elements leaving a spare, sad and beautifully resonant story.

Finally, I want to touch upon the book as an actual, physical item. God, they say, is in the details. Rarely has this seemed more true than with Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth. The book is lush with detail: florid prose, seemingly ripped from turn-of-the-century pulp comics, encourages and exhortates the reader from front and back cover. Various types of diorama corresponding to events in the story are provided at intervals, complete with tongue-in-cheek assembly instructions (as if any reader would be so foolish as to take a pair of scissors to such a gorgeously constructed book). This is the rare example of a graphic novel collection adding up to more than the sum of its' parts.

I rate this book 5/5 stars. Highly recommended.(less)

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Jun 25, 2010 Nicki rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2010, graphic-novels, beloved-favorites

Jimmy Corrigan is a self-conscious, mother-pleasing, middle-aged man who is still encased in the unshed angst of a teenager. After getting an invitation to visit his father, whom he’s never met, he sets off on what becomes quite a little adventure compared to his uneventful life. That’s Jimmy Corrigan, the character, in a nutshell. But Jimmy Corrigan, the book, is so much more.

Every time Miguel would look to see what page I was on, he’d declare, “You’re reading it too fast!” Indeed, with so muc...more Jimmy Corrigan is a self-conscious, mother-pleasing, middle-aged man who is still encased in the unshed angst of a teenager. After getting an invitation to visit his father, whom he’s never met, he sets off on what becomes quite a little adventure compared to his uneventful life. That’s Jimmy Corrigan, the character, in a nutshell. But Jimmy Corrigan, the book, is so much more.

Every time Miguel would look to see what page I was on, he’d declare, “You’re reading it too fast!” Indeed, with so much visual richness, it’s not a book to be rushed through, but experienced. If I was reading fast it’s only because I couldn’t put it down once I started.

I’ve heard Jimmy described as a miserable and pathetic loser. While most would agree that he is sad, it’s interesting to note that there’s very little self-pity in Corrigan’s character. He doesn’t protest his lot in life, he rarely complains or grumbles. Even in the images of his private world and thoughts, there are no blatant confessions of unhappiness. And there’s something very endearing, innocent, and sweet about Jimmy. There were times when I just wanted to pick him up and squeeze him and tell him that everything’s alright. Unlike so many other angst-ridden characters, it’s not difficult to empathize with Jimmy.

The drawings and layout of this graphic novel border on being downright cinematic. At times, it’s like looking at a flip book, only in slow motion and with dialogue. Admittedly, I’m a bit of a novice when it comes to graphic novels, but I’ve never read one that conveys a better sense of time and movement.

The landscape is impressive. The setting superbly reflects the melancholy alienation of the characters. There’s a particularly affecting set of images that contain, among other things, a silhouette of the McDonald’s arches. Someone once described such establishments to me as “islands in a sea of asphalt.” The characters themselves are, in a way, like islands.

Ware also sets the stage for certain scenes with wordless pages which are so artfully done that you can sense what the air feels like, smells like, sounds like, all of which enhances your emotional connection to the scene. Throughout the novel, some panels are wildly detailed while others are minimalistic. Ware seems to know just how many and which specific details will best match the mood of the moment.

Thought and emotion is masterfully conveyed by flashing back and forth between imagination and reality in a way that feels realistic and believable. There are several parallel storylines in addition to extended daydreams and all the different threads overlap and connect together magnificently.

One of the things that I value most in a writer is their ability to tell you without telling you. This book just might be my new favorite example of that. Once you’ve put the pieces together it gives you a sense of mind-blowing accomplishment, as though you’ve just solved a riddle. That leads me to perhaps my favorite thing about this book. It demands something of you. This is not a book for passive readers who want all the conclusions and meanings spelled out for them. This book asks that you, as the reader, reach between the layers to uncover the significance of events, to experience the irony, to complete the puzzle.

Jimmy Corrigan is an artfully interwoven tapestry of realism, fantasy, and flashback. It is both innovative and intelligent.
(less)

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Mar 01, 2010 bup rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

God help me, but I'm addicted to lists. So when I saw a goodreads friend had a shelf of 'Guardian 1000' top novels, I had to know what it was. So far I've been able to resist the temptation to make my own shelf at goodreads to keep track of it, but I did download the list from the Guardian website and import it into a spreadsheet. The list doesn't quite ping my O/C tracking instinct enough, though, because among the books I noticed a misspelled author's name, an entry for the 'book' "The Chronic...more

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Feb 17, 2010 Nicole rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I could not put it down once I started. I was immediately drawn in to Jimmy's character and eager to uncover his background. He's a middle-aged homely man, with a low self-esteem who is constantly overlooked by all of those around him, except for his overbearing mother. His life is interrupted by an attempt at reconciliation by his estranged father. Jimmy decides to meet his father, and things that are uncovered seem basic, but Chris Ware, the author, is a genius at subtle allusions so the reade...more

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Feb 07, 2010 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm going through a graphic novel phase right now and this one is part of that newly-established canon. Unlike some of the others on that list (Maus, Blankets) I had a really hard time getting into the character. His story is simply miserable in every way. He's a lonely middle-aged loser getting back in touch with a father who more or less abandoned him. Ware intercuts with stories of older generations of Corrigans, who led lives that were equally miserable.

Much has been said about Chris Ware's...more

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Nov 10, 2009 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2003

One of the books I lugged to St. Louis with me was a paperback version of Chris Ware's award-winning Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid in the World, a surprisingly introspective graphic novel that originally appeared as a serial "cartoon" in a Chicago magazine.

It is the story of a withdrawn middle-aged man, blown sideways through life, who one day gets a letter from his long-lost biological father, casually asking him to come for a visit. The story of Jimmy's visit to his father Billy alternates...more One of the books I lugged to St. Louis with me was a paperback version of Chris Ware's award-winning Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid in the World, a surprisingly introspective graphic novel that originally appeared as a serial "cartoon" in a Chicago magazine.

It is the story of a withdrawn middle-aged man, blown sideways through life, who one day gets a letter from his long-lost biological father, casually asking him to come for a visit. The story of Jimmy's visit to his father Billy alternates with that of Billy's father--also called Jimmy--who was abandoned by his own father at the Chicago World Fair at the age of nine. Both Jimmys look the same, so the point about abandonment breeding abandonment is clear. Sometimes one or the other of the Jimmys will drift into a reverie, which can be confusing. It takes time, but all the different symbols, images and people do eventually coalesce into a story which isn't about any specific Jimmy at all.

There is nothing cartoon-like here--it's clean, sometimes plain, modern graphic design. Pantheon has posted two pages of the book: one maps the origin of the woman Jimmy meets as his adopted stepsister; the other is from the historical section. Neither of these is a particularly striking example of the filmic quality of Ware's layout. Sometimes two panels will be nearly identical, except for the position of a character's eyes. On one page, we see a group of houses from street level, then from slightly above, to suggest a plane taking off. It is almost as though Ware were displaying a series of still frames from a movie. Some of the tiniest panels show nothing but grass moving in the wind, or an unoccupied chair. But turn the page and you may find a grand architectural drawing.

This book is unexpectedly poignant, sometimes even depressing--but it is also moving, and the illustrations are used to great effect, in a way that finally breaks free of the paradigm introduced by Art Spiegelman in both content and the use of the graphic form.(less)

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About Chris Ware

CHRIS WARE is widely acknowledged as the most gifted and beloved cartoonist of his generation by both his mother and seven-year-old daughter. His Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth won the Guardian First Book Award and was listed as one of the 100 Best Books of the Decade by the London Times in 2009. An irregular contributor to This American Life and The New Yorker (where some of the pages...more

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