Heads or Tails

by Lilli Carré

The creator of 2008’s acclaimed graphic novel The Lagoon named to many annual critics lists including Publishers Weekly and USA Today’s Pop Candy is back with a stunningly designed and packaged collection of some of the most poetic and confident short fiction being produced in comics today.

Carré’s elegant short stories read like the gothic, family narratives of Flannery O’Connor or Carson McCullers, but told visually. Poetic rhythms — a coin flip, a circling ferris wheel — are punctuated by elements of melancholy fantasy pushed forward by character-driven, naturalistic dialogue.

The stories in Heads Or Tails display a virtuosic breadth of visual styles and color palettes, each in perfect service of the story, and range from experimental one-pagers to short masterpieces like The Thing About Madeline (featured in The Best American Comics 2008), to graphic novellas like The Carnival (featured in David Sedaris and Dave Eggers’ 2010 Best American Nonrequired Reading, originally published in MOME).

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Short Stories, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Art, Adult

180 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2012

About the author

Lilli Carré is an artist and illustrator currently living in Chicago. She primarily works in the forms of experimental animation, comics, and print. Her animated films have shown in festivals throughout the US and abroad, including the Sundance Film Festival, and she is the co-founder of the Eyeworks Festival of Experimental Animation. Her books of comics are The Lagoon, Nine Ways to Disappear, Tales of Woodsman Pete, and a new collection of stories, Heads or Tails. Her work has appeared in The Believer Magazine, the New Yorker, The New York Times, Best American Comics and Best American Nonrequired Reading.

Source: Lilli Carré | ABOUT/CONTACT

Reviews

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carré’s elegant short stories read like the gothic, family narratives of Flannery O’Connor or Carson McCullers, but told visually. Poetic rhythms — a coin flip, a circling ferris wheel — are punctuated by elements of melancholy fantasy pushed forward by character-driven, naturalistic dialogue.

I've been eyeing this illustrated collection full of short stories ever since I read a similar book titled: How To Be Happy by Eleanor Davis. But unlike the aforementioned, Carré’s visually stunning art never falters. The color pallets in particular stand out the most here when you turn from page to page. The sole act of flipping through this was a joy to experience.

Heads or Tails tells of strange tales and ideas about the world and humans. From a competition judge that is involved in a car accident and loses his taste for opinionated pieces to a woman encountering versions of herself through her routine-like day. “The lifestyle of shadowing herself was exhausting.” To a short story of rain dropping from the ceiling and flooding the apartment.

These nuanced and melancholy pieces are guaranteed to leave you thinking on life and all its aspects while leaving no emotion unexpressed.

Here are some of my favorite illustrations:



























































Ultimately, Heads or Tails is a beautifully written, heartfelt, and deeply illuminating collection.

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[Nuno R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is absolutely brilliant, gorgeous, powerful! I love everything about these ilustrations, the tender weirdness of the stories, the fable like atmosphere, the colors, the lines, everyhting. I feel like covering my walls with Carré's ilustrations. It became instantly one of my favorite comic books, as surprising and dear to me as Shaun Tan's work was. Carré, like Tan, makes animation and I'm extremely excited about watching some of it whenever I get the chance.

[disco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each page was different than the last. Lilli Carre has a wild imagination and her format for transferring her thoughts onto page are inspiring.

[марја моревна · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

didn't enjoy all the pieces, but "rainbow moment" and all the short bits were very interesting

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of Carré’s comics that shows her stylistic range as well as her love of the uncanny and of mid-century illustration. Her endings and punchlines don’t always hit as hard as I’d like, but a couple of the comics in this collection are absolutely fantastic (“The Carnival” and “Rainbow Moment”).

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whimsical, sweet, colorful, sometimes surreal, quirky… some short stories and a collection of tidbits/sketches. Pretty wonderful stuff, really!

[Anna Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this, especially Rainbow Moment!

[Bill Hsu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was in the "Readers also Enjoyed" list for Michael DeForge's Very Casual, so I had to check it out. Whatever codebase they're using to make these recommendations, it's not working in this case. The shorter pieces especially seem cutesy and disposable. (No, those are not adjectives that generally come to mind with DeForge's work.)

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange, beautiful, dreamlike, theme-like, mazed and melancholy, some magical realism, and, as one Goodreads reviewer says, "an elegant sense of design." I loved this collection and look forward to reading more of her work.

[Jessie Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting book of surrealistic but very approachable comics. The content and drawings go perfectly together and I’m so happy that I read this book!

[Alexis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, weird, thought-provoking. Of all the short stories, "Of the Essence" was my favorite. I feel a lot like Miss Margaret. How do we find our footing between the everyday and the thrill?

[Susan L. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lilli Carre is something special. Her graphic stories ooze charm and whimsy, but in a way so they never feel contrived or false. My favorites by far in this collection are "The Carnival" and "Too Hot to Sleep." The former is filled with arresting images, not the the least of which includes a windswept woman in a polka dot dress, a boy with a hair full of moths, and an ever-present, expressionless stuffed cow. The latter is great too in terms of its unforgettable and striking illustrations: a boy holding a dead fish's lips up to his ear, a girl at a mirrored vanity with sunburned legs save for the reminders of seashore souvenirs. "The Thing About Madeleine" (which was one of the best things about Best American Comics 2008) and the short-short "Marching Band" are standouts too, but so is most every other story in the volume. Carre's style is diverse but at the same time remains recognizable as her own.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zbiór szorciaków z dużą dozą abstrakcji i senną surrealistyczną otoczką. Mam wrażenie, że Carre próbuje uchwycić to co nieuchwytne, wplatając z codzienne życie element satyry, melancholii i niezwykłości. Robi to przeważnie przy pomocy ciepłych barw, klarownej kreski i prostego układu paneli, tworząc dosyć poetycką całość. Stylistyka rysunku zmienia się w zależności od historii i krąży między twórczością Eleanor Davis, Richarda Sali oraz elegancją i minimalizmem starych gazetowych pasków. Szkoda, że komiksowy dorobek Lilli Carre jest tak niewielki, bo lektura "Heads ot Tails" to jedno z przyjemniejszych doznań, jakich ostatnio doświadczyłem.

[vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. So imaginative and unusual, in a good way. I loved the dreamlike feeling of the short stories and the eccentric art. My favorite stories/strips were Wishy Washy, Rainbow Moment, and Stress Orchestra.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love everything by Lilli Carre. Her artwork is thoughtful and her stories are like the craziest dreams you've ever had.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imaginative and creative. Loved how the drawiing style for each short story is different.

[lucy black · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this disappointing. I really liked her other books but this one felt shallow. It was too whimsical and dreamy. Each story was too short for the reader to engage with the characters and the characters were all pretty stereotypical and unlikeable.

[Kirk · Rating 5 out of 5]

The artwork is really unique in this one.

The stories are thought-provoking and outside the box sometimes too.

This is a creator who has something unique to say and the art and writing skills to back it up. It was a pleasure to read.

[María Duque · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una genia.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just absolutely lovely, reflective, and dreamy.

[kkirkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a lot fun. Definitely will turn back to this, someday.

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

a lot of these were just straight up confusing. but i enjoyed the art style a lot!

[J.Istsfor Manity · Rating 3 out of 5]

entertaining graphic short story collection... oblique stories and sharp art work... middle third of the collection is strongest, especially “the thing about madeline” and “the carnival”...

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful graphic novel! Exquisite art and psychedelic plots.

[Hans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lilli Carré provides delight after delight in this compilation of her shorter works. Many pieces had subtle twists or notes that stopped me in my tracks, so that I would go back and start from the beginning refocused on different themes or elements. More specifically, in the volume opener "Kingdom," Carré works out a "simple" conceit that is obvious after seeing a couple full-page panels. This "simple" work really drew me into considerations of the multiple meanings: a life's journey, settling down, hoarding, aging, etc. In one case ("Carnival"), I finished the story and immediately flipped back to the start where the story continued - a Möbius comic strip. (Also fun to be reminded that Lilli Carré was a contributor to The Believer magazine.)

[Dale Johnson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Billed as a collection of graphical short stories, this is more a collection of disjointed and often surreal vignettes mostly without meaning: A little like Kafka but with no strong symbolism or even sense of story.

TINY SPOILER HERE: An example is two men argue over what to bet on the flip of a coin and then, once flipped, it never just comes back down.

I almost quit about a third of the way through, but finished it (it's graphical and a fast read of less than an hour) just to say I had so I could write this honestly.

2 stars just because it was work for Carré to put this together and some of the graphical art is appealing.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great collection of the whimsical work of Lilli Carré, a talented contemporary cartoonist who isn't afraid to be twee, charming, or downright inscrutable when it suits her needs. Many of these individual pieces have been previously published, but it's still a joy to have them brought together in a single volume where readers can immerse themselves in Carré's strange and wonderful world. Highly recommended if you like idiosyncratic art comics heavily imbued with a sense of adventure and fun.

[Linda Robinson]

The longer stories made me a little queasy. Long limbs, odd heads, Daliesque storytelling. The Thing About Madeline is terrific, and Carre's short bits at the back are wonderful, too. I especially liked My Night Dance and Stress Orchestra. The book is designed by Carre, and the color palette is a combination of 50s paint chips and muted Ikea, separated by well-done grayscale. The best, the best begins "As I was working, the refrigerator abruptly stopped humming..." And the last few pages. Sublime.

[Felipe Assis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Após terminar de ler o segundo conto percebi algumas coisas que me soaram familiares, a primeira foi o traço que é muito parecido com o da Eleanor Davis; continuei achando que haveria algo mais, li mais um conto e conclui que o clima familiar que estava sentindo vinha dos contos de ninguém mais, ninguém menos que Júlio Cortázar, pesquisei e constatei que a autora é uma grande fã do Borges e do Próprio Cortázar. Agora pense: a autora é super talentosa e ainda por cima tem quase que um passe dos contistas argentinos, porra, hq espetacular."

[Jordan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely little graphic novel anthology full of dreamy imagery and subtle ideas about the complexity of life and the myriad of paths always available. I'll admit that I have more of an eye for prose than art, but even to an untrained eye Carré's work is amazingly intricate and clever, and her use of color is evocative and surprising.

While I tend to prefer my stories with a bit more plot, the fanciful and irreverent tales in Heads or Tails are undeniably charming. Heads or Tales is more of a visual treat than an intellectual journey, and it makes for a quick and lighthearted read.