Sunny Side Down: A Collection of Tales of Mere Existence

by Levni Yilmaz

Lev is just like any other young, urban sub-professional who sees the world through inch-thick goggles of self-consciousness. Armed only with insecurity, doubt, and a seemingly inadvisable tenacity, Lev trudges through his days furiously analyzing himself and the world around him, desperately trying to figure out where he fits in.

If you have ever felt like a perpetual square peg in a world of round holes, you have found a kindred spirit.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Humor, Nonfiction, Memoir, Graphic Novels Comics, The United States Of America

4 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2009

About the author

Levni Yilmaz is a San Francisco based independent film maker, artist and publisher, best known for his “Tales of Mere Existence” animated comic series.

Each video in the "Tales of Mere Existence" series shows a series of static cartoons, which appear gradually as if being drawn by an invisible hand. Yilmaz' technique is inspired by the movie “The Mystery Of Picasso” (1956), which similarly shows Picasso's paintings appearing from the other side.

Yilmaz writes, draws, films, edits, and narrates all of the "Tales of Mere Existence" videos. He often recounts personal anecdotes and observations and discusses his views on interpersonal relationships, society and human behavior. His videos are told from a rather pessimistic viewpoint and tend to have a sarcastic undertone.

In 2003, Yilmaz began to sell DVDs that contained some of his short comic films. Along with the DVD came the first print version of the "Tales of Mere Existence". Over the next six years, Yilmaz published three more books, as his fan base grew to thousands. His first official book, "Sunny Side Down", was published by Simon & Schuster in 2009.

Reviews

[Alan Hoffman]

I'd consider giving this someone who felt depressed or had a bad breakup. Yilmaz is able to express his periodic feelings of futility while providing some laughs.



A little like Matt Groening's Life in Hell collections, though shorter and more personal.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is utterly fun and an up-beat, with a side of depressing, read. I loved this book and I recommend it to anyone who has ever felt that they have no idea what they're doing in life.

[Lani M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book coincidentally in my friend's house since I'm gonna spend NYE 2013 with bunch of friends here. This book is started with, "For the loners, the misanthropes, and the perpetually alienated", it punched me hard in my heart when I read it, because I'm one of them; the loner, that is.

Reading the book made me smile, giggle, even laugh out loud, not the kind of laugh at happiness, but bitterness. Apparently, we need it. To laugh at bitterness. Now, don't you forget about this capability, self.

Happy New Year!

[Licha · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 STARS

Daughter's pick.

Kind of hit or miss humor for me. I'm just not into random pages of thoughts that are not always funny or that necessary. I always have to wonder why someone thinks their random thoughts are publishable. But at least half of the book was relatable so I'll round this up to a three-star rating. If the book had been shorter maybe I would have liked it more. Not only did I keep wishing I could zoom through the last third of the book but it also had pages that were just too busy with writing.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The personal, idiosyncratic parts of the book are sad, funny and quite touching. The more generic pieces felt like unsophisticated MAD cartoons. I love Lev's narrated drawings on YouTube, so I mostly bought the book to help support him. He is right to say the end of the book isn't as coherent as the beginning. Still, the drawings are charming and the book does successfully reach out to fellow lonely people.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this is a fun little look at life. Some of his caveats are laugh out loud funny. I'm not generally a graphic novel fan-- but his sense of humor and is his keen eye for irony appeal to me.

I picked this up at book store clearance event.

[Lovely Fortune · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly relatable

[kt · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Lev's "Tales of Mere Existence" videos on youtube fairly recently and fell in love with them, and so when I saw my library system had this book available for request I grabbed it as soon as I could. The book is a great little collection of comics, and I found them both hilarious and depressing...but only depressing because I feel like his writing comes right out of my own head sometimes. I identify so much with a lot of his insecurities, social shortcomings/awkwardness, anxieties and fears about the future and/or career paths, memories of school days and isolation/nerdy-ness in high school, sometimes almost crippling self-consciousness...and generally overthinking everything haha. I think anyone who picks up this book could find at least something they also identify with, and appreciate his witty self-deprecating humor!

The only thing I could say really negatively about this book is that, while I love his unique art style and interesting drawings, its not as interesting as watching him narrate the video as he draws the comics. It truly loses a little of the charm when you don't see him finish the drawing from behind the page and hear him muse in a monotonous stream of consciousness. Anyway, I still recommend this book, and definitely his videos!

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have been following Lev Yilmaz's hand-drawn animated series "Tales of Mere Existence" on YouTube for a few years now, always being amused by his blend of self-deprecation and quirky humor. Having Yilmaz narrate many of these pieces himself definitely helped to get into the comics included here, and I imagined his tone of voice as I read through it. It is refreshing to see the everyday disappointments, anxieties, and navel-gazing of daily personal existence that we all can identify with expressed with such simple elegance and with so much wry humor. On the other hand, while I enjoyed "Sunny Side Down," I do feel the comics lost a little offline and on occasion, some of the messages came off as a bit trite. They are at their best when Yilmaz is simply narrating, in his own self-analytic way, his own life. Definitely worth checking out, if only to find that you are not alone in your insecurities and self-loathing, and that is something I think everyone can get a chuckle out of.

[Brendan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many indie comics writers, Lev Yilmaz is depressed and sad, and his comics are about that. That said, I didn't find much else to grab onto in this collection. The art isn't provocative, the depression isn't all that inspiring or interesting, and the tales are relatively limited in scope. I feel like Yilmaz's work falls somewhere in tone between Charles Schultz, Chris Ware, and Ivan Brunetti. But Ware brings poignancy and artistic prowess, Schultz brings ennui and biting social commentary, and Ivan Brunetti takes depression and self-immolation to intense extremes; Yilmaz does not achieve any of these. I guess the closest related work I can see is Peter Bagge, but even Bagge's work has a certain mania to it that Yilmaz doesn't achieve.

I'd recommend collections by any of the above writers over this one.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunny Side Down is more a collection of comics than a narrative memoir, but Lev's observations about growing up and relationships are staggeringly accurate, precise, and personal. I actually wondered, reading this, if I had dated Lev. Flipped back, looked at his photo, was pretty sure I hadn't.. but really, is it possible that we've all had the gas station argument?

The drawing is simple, at times the observations are trite, but it's a relief to finally read something by someone as optimistic as I am. I picked the book up on a whim at ComicCon without ever having seen Lev's work, and now I'll definitely have to look for more. His work is like a male answer to Violet Moore.

[Hollowspine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sunny Side Down collects moments from Yilmaz's childhood to adult years, all filled with disappointment, misunderstanding and false bravado. I could relate to a lot of the moments, the ways we try to 'grow up' (changing our hairstyles or clothing), or fool ourselves into believing that eventually all will be revealed, something will click and suddenly we'll be different. I felt that the comics that looked more inward were more entertaining (and revealing) than the ones that seemed to be more social commentary.

I enjoy listening to Lev narrate as he draws out the comics, which made me feel something lacking in this print version, but I still enjoyed the book.

[Simone · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember I used to watch and mostly enjoy this guy's youtube videos, and this wasn't all that different from those videos, so I guess my tastes have changed. There were some comics in this collection that I like well enough, there were some that were just 'meh', and then there were a bunch that I left a bad taste in my mouth. The world-view that's expressed is so incredibly negative, but in a way that seems to celebrate thinking everything is crap and looking down on everyone else as well as yourself. In the end I'm actually glad I didn't like this much, because I realised I don't ever want to find myself relating to and identifying with this way of looking at the world.

[Christiane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank god I read this in the spring with the sun shining; do not try this during one of our forever grey winters, when everything seems hopeless. Of course, nothing could possibly be as bad as Lev's life. Luckily, amidst the utter despair, is loads of humor and uncomfortable "I've thought that exact same thing!" moments (hopefully it's not just me...) And whatever you do, don't read "I'm not going to think about her" after you've just broken up with someone (or they've dumped you. Poor Lev!) :(

[Allison Grimsted · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found Lev through his animated shorts on YouTube. I loved them, so I ordered the book. I have to say, this book is a lot darker. It focuses a lot more on his depression, how he's not getting anywhere in life, he's a pessimist and he can't find the right girl. In his YouTube videos, there's more about all the things that everyone's thinking about, but no one talks about. Also, a lot of the cartoons in the book are the same as the YouTube videos. Over all, I would recommend just sticking with the YouTube videos.

[d4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's something charming about these simple drawings. If I give this book too much thought, I may get depressed because I can relate to it too well. Maybe if this were available to me at a younger age, I would have been more prepared for the disappointments of life. Actually, the word "prepared" implies that the book offers some countermeasure to disappointment; it doesn't. I just mean that children should read this so they know what to expect from life: failure and loneliness. :D

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic comic book of stories from the creator of Tales of Mere Existence. They're very tongue in cheek and representative of how many people probably feel already. It's down to earth and sometimes a little dark and always pessimistic.

It won't take long for you to read this cover to cover, but it's definitely worth reading through every now and again.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

FANTASTIC. This may as well be the my life - past, present, and future - all compiled collectively (and vicariously) into the miniature musings of Lev Yilmaz. Yilmaz's deadpan, self-depricating humour speaks to anyone who has felt out of place or as a loner at some point in their life. It's funny, and almost a little too honest at times, with excellent and unique art style. Definitely a gem.

[Amy Wheatley Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

More on the mid to late twenty-something end of "young adult", this collection of comics begins with a contemplation of the meaning of life and ends with an understanding of why the author can't keep a girlfriend. Funny in parts.

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of good comics from the web series from the author, but I found some new ones too. Read it with a grain of salt and try to keep in mind that life isn't all as bad as he makes it seems. A fun read but maybe a bit of a downer for those optimistic at heart.

[Robinson Recalde · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and I like Levni's work so much, but I think this book has like 90% repeated content from other sources (I'm not saying here he copied somebody, I'm just saying some of the work can feel repeated).

[Doron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gem from start to finish

[doreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, apt and fantastic, Lev Yilmaz is able to find the best way to comment on relationships and life through his comics and illustrations.

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

The YouTube videos are hilarious, but seeing them in book-form somehow makes them incredibly depressing.

[Constantino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great illustrations of what amount to be awkward social interactions, something many people (including me) can identify with.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

the only thing I accomplished today was to read this book between naps. A very useful day - this memoir of mere existence speaks to life on so many levels.

[Carlos Mendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuando lo leí pensé: "¿Lev, eres yo?".

[Joelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I liked it. Yilmaz has a really cynical take on existentialism, which I enjoyed. But at some point, it felt too much of an American lifestyle to relate to.

[Renald Castillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

As negative as this may sound, but it influences a lot of what I do now.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious!