The Daniel Clowes Reader: A Critical Edition of Ghost World and Other Stories, with Essays, Interviews, and Annotations

by Ken Parille (Editor), Daniel Clowes

A wide-ranging introduction to the work of one of the most important living cartoonists, The Daniel Clowes Reader features Ghost World, Clowes s celebrated graphic novel about the complex friendship of two teenage girls. It also includes stories some reprinted for the first time about boys coming of age, troubled superheroes, and the place of artists and critics in popular culture. The volume s dozen critical essays illuminate Clowes s comics by locating them within biographical, artistic, and socio-historical contexts, including the Indie and DIY movements, Generation X philosophy, and the history of American cartooning. Selections by artists who influenced Clowes and a detailed chronology of his work round out the collection, and extensive annotations shed light on the cartoonist s sources and cultural references. Perfect for the college literature/graphic narrative classroom.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Art, Essays, Graphic Novels Comics, Nonfiction, Humor

360 pages, Paperback

First published April 6, 2013

Reviews

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've been a huge fan of Clowes since buying the original Eightball comics 25 years ago. The best thing about this book was re-reading some of the stories that I hadn't seen in years. However, some of the essays made me feel like I was grading college papers. And the pages of unnecessary footnotes explaining every little detail were absurd. Thank you for telling me who the Ramones are in a footnote. WTF?

A lot of the writing sucks all of the power out of the work by overanalyzing it. A simplistic Freudian explanation of comic book themes is not what I was looking for here. And if I want Baudrillard quotes, I'll read Baudrillard. And oh, the irony of feeling like a character in a Clowes comic who is criticizing something for being trite, and that something is essays about Clowes comics.

I highly recommend reading Daniel Clowes Interviews instead: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8...

[Kayla]

I had to stop reading this book because I simply stopped caring about what was being said. I'm a pretty huge fan of Clowes, and this entire book seem incredibly indulgent and obsessive. If you'd like to know more about Clowes's work, re-read his comics, don't read this book.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

kind of unexpectedly devoured this in the past few days; received it thursday night, began reading it the following night, & continued reading it nightly thereafter. before this all i'd read of daniel clowes had been, of course, ghost world, which is not my bible the way it appears to be for so many other people—in fact, earlier the same day i received this, i finally also got back my copy of ghost world that i'd lent to a friend, and we spent a couple minutes lightly disparaging such people. after this compendium, though, i have to say, i get it a little more, the bible attitude. i think i've also lately been really intensely in the kind of mood/state of mind/well-being that clowes glories in representing, which may have helped. turns out his comics were the most honest stuff i'd read, i think, in the past few weeks. made me wish there were more of them in this reader—the essays/criticism could tend often towards ponderousness, and was on the whole, you know, fine, nothing special (though often fairly elucidating, i guess). well, will seek out more clowes, i suppose. has also put me in the mood for more chris ware—for, basically, moments, plotless lives, meandering unvarnished honesty.

[David A Townsend · Rating 1 out of 5]

More DC than I bargained for, I found 'Ghost World' mildly insightful and entertaining, but come on already.

[Rachel Davies · Rating 5 out of 5]

i "could not put this down" !

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I consider myself to be a fan of Daniel Clowes, but I don't read much of his stuff. His characters and scenarios make me uncomfortable, and I tend not to be patient enough to push through that.

But I do love Ghost World, and I loved seeing the exhibit on his work at the MCA. This book helped me to appreciate the complexity of what he does all the more, even if I didn't engage with it thoroughly.

I skimmed this lengthy volume but I read many of the essays, especially those that gave overviews of his life & work & that focused on Ghost World. The Ghost World subject index was fascinating and gave me a deeper appreciation of just how layered a work it is.

This would be a good text to use in full in a graphic novel course, or to excerpt. It strikes me as a must-read for aspiring cartoonists and for anyone who wants to think more deeply about Clowes' work.

[Mark Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It feels strange to only give four stars to a compendium that includes Ghost World, Like a Weed, Joe, and Blue Italian Shit, but some of the essays were needlessly exhaustive (don't know if I need a line-by-line analysis of the dialogue in Ghost World) and I found myself skipping Clowes' obscure commercial artwork, when it felt like filler. Still, Clowes is a genius, and ultimately this book works as a sort of Criterion Collection DVD of many of his best pieces.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this deep dive of sorts into Clowes. Somehow I have never gotten around to reading Ghost World until now, and I'm glad that, when I did, it was alongside some very smart critical and theoretical assessments as well as a healthy dose of his smaller works. In terms of Ghost World itself, I'm impressed by Clowes's ability to blend satire and melancholy in such a way that the work is both biting and affecting.

[Wes Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thorough and at times overwhelming, The Daniel Clowes Reader is chock-full of analyses of his works as well as interesting essays and interviews a-plenty. Clowes seems like a very intriguing guy, I'm not sure that a work like this really gets to who he is/why he does, but it's the best effort at trying to.

[Lily Kauffman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only problem I have with this book is the layout. The analysis of whichever Daniel Clowes works is being reviewed comes BEFORE the reprint of his work. So you have to skip a couple pages ahead to read the piece and refresh your memory, then read the critical review. Otherwise, a very detailed/ comprehensive look at one of the most important cartoonists alive.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

The essays on Clowes' work are quite good, and the annotations to Ghost World are phenomenal. An interesting section to note was identifying where Clowes re-drew faces in some collected editions of his work.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books on Clowes (and comics in general) I've ever read. Multiple close readings of Ghost World and Rodger Young stories and much more! I found it hard to put down!

[Tressa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some interesting background and essays on Ghost World and some of Clowes' other works.

[Jere · Rating 5 out of 5]

“The secret to being alone is to organize your time; to develop habits and routines and gradually elevate their importance to where they seem almost like normal, healthy activities.” <3

[chip minnick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Theory and analysis seems antithetical to Clowes' bitterness towards his own academic journey, but it's a really interesting read.

[Dean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm in the same camp as those readers who like Clowes's comics, but think this excessively annotated approach to his work is just too much analysis. Not to mention that given who his readers are, many of the footnotes and annotations contain information that those folks would really be expected to know. Beyond the annotations are essays about and interviews with Clowes, but I felt it was too much.

Having criticized the book's format and much of its contents, I want to say that I love "Ghost World," the graphic novel, reproduced in this book, for which Clowes is best known - so much so that I immediately watched the film of the same name that came out in 2001 and featured Thora Birch, Scarlett Johansson and Steve Buscemi. As my partner said to me, there really isn't a false note in the movie. Clowes's graphic novel is different in some respects - but it has the charm of a great graphic novel, and there are no false notes there, either.

My rating for "Ghost World" is 5 stars, and for the excessive parts of this "Clowes critical edition," maybe 1 star. So figure out how you'd like to take this particular drug, and choose accordingly. Good stuff.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended for those who want an in-depth view of the cartoon art of Clowes, this`volume reveals in his own words his sources of inspiration, background, artistic development and cultural references. It also contains critical essays reviewing him and his work as well as annotations explaining the various minutiae and character references in the drawing and text. The artwork reproduced here is by no means exhaustive of his output and is concentrated on Ghost World and a few other select earlier pieces so do not purchase this expecting more than that.

[Gustavo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A combination of comics, literature criticism, and essays. If you are familiar with Daniel clowes work, you will see an eclectic mix of eccentric like characters that are all too real. a fun read.

[Tommaso Querini · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring, overly written version.

[Kayla]

Didn't read everything, so technically I didn't finish this book but I read enough that the essays became a little repetitive to me.

The take away is that David Clowes encompasses the follow:
-Female characters who speak the way that girls do in real life.
-Hipsters and examining the culture of being ironic
-The transition from childhood in to adulthood.