Chartwell Manor

by Glenn Head

Veteran alternative cartoonist Glenn Head’s harrowing graphic memoir is about years of sexual and emotional abuse suffered at a boarding school during his adolescence, and the resultant trauma that took him almost 50 years to process before being able to tell his story publicly. No one asks for the childhood they get, and no child ever deserved to go to Chartwell Manor. For Glenn Head, his two years spent at the now-defunct Mendham, NJ, boarding school ― run by a serial sexual and emotional abuser of young boys in the early 1970s ― left emotional scars in ways that he continues to process. This graphic memoir ― a book almost 50 years in the making ― tells the story of that experience, and then delves with even greater detail into the reverberations of that experience in adulthood, including addiction and other self-destructive behavior. Head tells his story with unsparing honesty, depicting himself as a deeply flawed human struggling to make sense of the childhood he was given. Black and white illustrations.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Memoir, Nonfiction, Mental Health, Graphic Novels Comics, Biography

112 pages, Hardcover

First published May 25, 2021

About the author

Glenn Head is an American cartoonist and comic book editor, based in New York City.
Head was born in 1958 in Morristown, New Jersey and began drawing comics when fourteen. A student of Art Spiegelman at the School of Visual Arts in the early ‘80s, Head's style was significantly influenced by the underground comix of the 60's.
Much of his work has appeared in anthologies. In the early 90's Head co-created with cartoonist Kaz the comix anthology series Snake Eyes, for Fantagraphics Books. From 2005 to 2010 he edited and contributed to another anthology by Fantagraphics, called Hotwire Comix.
In recent years Glenn Head has moved towards longer form comics, releasing the graphic novels Chicago (2015) and Chartwell Manor (2021).
Other works and illustrations by him have appeared on a number of newspapers and magazines, including The Wall Street Journal, Screw, the New York Times, Playboy, New Republic, Entertainment Weekly, Nickelodeon Magazine and more.

Reviews

[Juan Naranjo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Este cómic es una autobiografía de una brutal sinceridad en las que el autor cuenta las consecuencias que tuvieron en su vida los abusos de los que fue víctima durante los años que pasó en un internado al estilo británico en el que sus padres le internaron por repetir curso.

Glenn Head construye en «Chartwell manor» un relato absolutamente descarnado de cómo los secretos se enquistan y lo contaminan todo cuando no se airean correctamente con el objetivo de curar heridas. Las mentiras que a veces nos contamos, los tabúes que se engarzan en el ADN de todas las familias, las conversaciones que se acaban no teniendo nunca, las semillas negras que encuentran un buen sustrato en los miedos y en la falta de comunicación para germinar en forma de un monstruo informe que se presenta en todos los aspectos de nuestra cotidianidad… todos esos temas son los que trata el autor en este libro tan duro como liberador.

Y lo hace con un estilo reflejado en un dibujo obsesivo, recargado, dolorosamente sincero y en ocasiones casi espeluznante. Glenn Head nos abre las puertas a las pesadillas que le acompañan desde su adolescencia y nos narra detenidamente las consecuencias que todo lo que entonces vivió tiene, aún hoy, en su día a día.

Es un cómic sincero, salvaje y valiente que me ha fascinado y que va directo a la estantería de mis autobiografías favoritas.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glenn Head's memoir, founded in a story of physical and sexual abuse at Chartwell Manor, a boarding school in New Jersey for "troubled boys" where his parents sent him at thirteen. The second part of the book involves Head's addictions--sex, prostitutes, strip bars, drugs, alcohol--seen in part as a kind of psychological condition created by the abuse, and the third part focuses on his dealing with his addictions and his use of comics to process his trauma.

This is a VERY uncomfortable book to read. Amazing alt-comix style that I first encountered in his 2015 memoir Chicago; in that book you learn that Head got on a bus as a teenager to come from New Jersey to Chicago to see if he could get a job in comics (!!), with literally no money in his pockets, no prospect of a job, and nearly (yes, almost actually) starved at one point, living on the street, begging for food, lacking the common sense to know how to survive (or is that too harsh, as I know there are more then 30,000 homeless people on the street in Chicago, including many teens?). We learn noting of Chartwell Manor in that book.

Chartwell Manor takes a longer view than Chicago, making it clear that the boarding school experience really messed him up for life, as he learned it also did many of the boys he contacted about their experiences there. We are sympathetic about his being abused, of course, a true nightmare, and we mourn the fact that his parents didn't want to talk about the abuse with him, but on the whole he does not create a sympathetic self-portrait. It's scathingly, brutally honest about his own addictions, and it's all hard to view, honestly. This is the territory of other brutally self-critical artists such as Robert Crumb, Phoebe Gloeckner, Justin Green, comics artists that all seem to have no self-censorship when it comes to their own problematic behavior. But the honesty with respect to sexual assault and its effects that Head shares here is both painful and important to know about. And the art style is remarkable, reminiscent of Crumb, Green, Peter Bagge. Noah VanSciver, too; self-deprecating, sometimes painfully so.

So beware; it's hard to read, but I am glad he did it.

Here's just one of many articles about the pedophile Terence Lynch, who served seven years of a fourteen-year sentence in the eighties for assaulting fourteen boys. But this is an article from November 2021, where now more than fifty boys--now older men--have come forward to document their abuse:

https://www.dailyrecord.com/story/new...

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chartwell Manor is the story of Glenn Head's time at Chartwell Manor and the scars he continues to carry from it to this day.

I don't remember how this originally ended up on my radar but I'm glad I picked it up. It's a powerful, unsettling, memorable book.

Cartoonist Glenn Head was having trouble in school when his parents sent him to a boarding school in 1971, where he and the other boys suffered sexual abuse at the hands of the headmaster and that's just the first third of the book. From there, Glenn struggles to fit in, deals with alcohol and sex addiction, and generally tries to make it as a cartoonist against all odds. While he's a sympathetic character to some degree,

The art has an underground feel to it, the stark black inks making everything pop. It reminds me of Dan Clowes at times but I'm sure it's because they have some of the same influences. The writing really lays it all out there and doesn't look away. It took an unbelievable amount of courage to tell a true story like this.

I don't feel like I'm conveying the magnitude of this. Ordinarily when I'm reading a comic or trade paperback or whatever, I'm rushing off to tweet panels from it and it takes about twice as long to get through as it needs. I read this pretty much in one sitting, feeling uneasy but completely unwilling and unable to put it down other than to fire off a tweet urging people to pick it up.

Chartwell Manor is an unflinching tale of abuse and survival. Five out of five stars.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Glenn Head was 13, his parents decided to send him to a small, private school to repeat the 7th grade. Over the years, Head had become increasingly distractable from school tasks and he was just eking by scholastically. Discipline was needed, and his parents chose to send Glenn to a boarding school for “troubled boys” (mostly), ages 5 to 15—usually boys from wealthy families, since tuition was $10K—a hefty sum in the early 1970s.

Every boy’s nightmare comes true in this book: The headmaster (who demands to be addressed as “Sir”) spanks, paddles, canes, beats, molests, and fellates the boys. (Who gets what is, as is usually the case in these situations, purely arbitrary.) The boys are trapped in a molester’s dream scenario: youth—troubled, confused, rejected at home—given unstinting attention and emotional manipulation that combines the shock of violence with the comfort of hugs and loving coos. This, at age 13.

That’s the first part of the book. The second part deals with the after-effects of those years. The after-effects, until age 30, include seemingly non-stop drinking binges, porn/sexshop/strip club binges, and—surprise!—difficulty maintaining relationships. Bonus points: Semi-estrangement from his parents, who turn a deaf ear to their responsibility for submitting their son to the abuses of the school. (The parents already seem to know or intuit that “Sir,” a tawny ex-Brit in his 40s, is abusive, and it’s nothing they care to give much thought to.) Head and I are, I would guess, within a year of each other’s age. Our parents are of a generation that says, “Deal with it. It happened; you can’t change anything. Move on,” while remaining blinkered to what that mindset has done to themselves, let alone to their children and grandchildren, while the effects of their decisions ripple on throughout the generations.

The indifference and willful obliviousness to molestation and other forms of abuse of one’s own child and of one’s own friend only worsen the emotional realm of the abused: To hear laughter as response to physical violation is a second violation of a child’s fundamental trust in the world. Head, in later years, meets up with some of his old school pals from Chatwell Manor, after Lynch, the headmaster, has been thrown in jail for pedophilia. Head gives up drinking at age 30, joining AA, but certain unhealthy sexual obsessions remain. Knowing how fucked-up he is as a direct result of that one year, he’s curious to see what’s happened to them.

None of the other three seemed to have made much of their lives: drunk, in jail, unemployed, etc. One is an especial car-wreck: drunk, missing a front tooth, part-time carpenter. That’s the first part. Part two: admits to enjoying Sir’s spankings and blow jobs. Part three: Hints that he’s seriously looked into the cost of having Sir killed by professionals. This is the notion of “resilience” of our parents’ generation.

Throughout Head’s memoir, at different years in his adult life, we see an image of Lynch on his drawing board, representing Head’s different attempts over the decades to confront his fears and their source. Each time results in emotional tailspin, almost always self-destructive. In Chartwell Manor, Head seems to have finally purged himself of the evil spirit that plagued him for 50 years.

[Liralen · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a story, this is important: Head details the physical and sexual abuse he experienced as a boarding school pupil in the 70s, when he was put in the care of 'Sir'; perhaps more importantly, Head details the years of dysfunction that followed: anger, alcoholism, and obsession with and/or addiction to porn, a general lack of disregard for his health and wellness. And that's just Head—when, in the book, he eventually reconnects with his former classmates, he realises that in some ways he was one of the lucky ones. And, too: we see over and over again how the people who should listen (during and after) just...don't. Because if they hear it, they might have to admit that it's true—and that they didn't do anything to stop it—and we can't have that, can we? Everything is just fine.

As a graphic work, this is not my thing. At all. If you Google 'Glenn Head' and have a look at the image results, you'll get a reasonable sense of the style of his art, and while I'm not impugning Head's skill (nor accuracy—there are also some photos, and in their context especially seem quite on-point), the style he works with is not really one I want to stick with for a four-panel comic, let alone 200+ pages of book. Too many slack-jawed faces with emotion conveyed by spittle, I guess? A matter of personal preference, I guess.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story of a young boy sent off to a private school in junior high to address his lack of academic interest or motivation. There, along with dozens--ultimately hundreds of other boys, he is groomed and used for the sexual gratification of a headmaster with the charisma to dupe parents and boys alike. I think one thing that this book does exceptionally well is show the long term effects of sexual abuse on a child. In addition to the many victims who experienced all kinds of long term addictions and failing behaviors in the aftermath, this one man hangs like a bad shadow over Head's life. Lynch, the pedophile, is always at the edge of his consciousness, always looming over important moments in his life. The scenes from our childhood may be particularly engrained in our memories because of the newness or vitality or raw emotionality of that time of life, making something like sexual abuse as your first introduction to sex be all the more powerful and long lasting. Head's mother insists at one point (determined not to recognize what her son went through) that "kids are resilient...they bounce back..." desperately wanting to believe that. Chartwell Manor is stark evidence of the contrary.

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

A disturbing and honest look at abuse and it’s aftermath done in comics. The medium can really hold anything and Head is a fine practitioner of the art.

[Przemysław Skoczyński · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mocny, szczery i momentami odpychający komiks gościa, który część młodości spędził w szkole prywatnej o bardzo surowych zasadach, gdzie dochodziło do znęcania się psychicznego i fizycznego oraz przestępstw na tle seksualnym, dokonywanych na uczniach. Akcja dzieje się we wczesnych latach 70-tych, gdy problemy związane z pedofilią bywały marginalizowane lub stanowiły jeszcze tabu. Wspomniane wydarzenia to część pierwsza; druga to pokazanie wpływu, jakie miały one na dalsze życie bohatera i jego znajomych. Całe to gówno, które siedziało w nich przez te lata, w późniejszym czasie procentowało uzależnieniem od alkoholu, narkotyków czy pornografii. Widać też proces radzenia sobie z problemami, próby poukładania własnego życia, zmagania z przeszłością i w efekcie (część trzecia) osiągnięcie małej stabilizacji i stanu, w którym bohater może stworzyć ten komiks. Uderza szczególnie postawa rodziców autora, którzy są modelowym przykładem tego jak unikać tematu, wypierać prawdę i banalizować ją - ten aspekt był chyba najbardziej bolesny. "Chartwell Manor" utrzymany jest w stylistyce klasyki niezależnego komiksu od Crumba do Burnsa czy Clowesa. Grafiki Heada bywają momentami naprawdę imponujące, a historia od pierwszych stron mocno wciągająca. Jestem pod wrażeniem

[Mateen Mahboubi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Head's story of abuse at boarding school and some of the ongoing challenges associate with it is raw and a tough read throughout. Don't expect a happy ending.

[Joey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult look at childhood trauma and the disparate cycles of damaged behavior from those experiencing it. Head tells the easily relatable tale of a kid (then teen, young adult, etc.) who has mostly gone through the motions leading up to his abuse at the hands of a sadistic headmaster, and interestingly enough continues to do so for decades after.
*Spoilers ahead*
What I find most intriguing is the relative lack of a revelatory and cathartic moment for the protagonist; he is not directly involved in bringing the abuser to justice, the abuse went on long before and long after him, he is constantly deprived a sincere moment of understanding from his parents who just want to move on, the headmaster dies without Head ever confronting him. I think this narrative is an important one for survivors to see. We are not always the hero of the larger story, but these stories still shape us immeasurably.

[Steph · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a hard examination of what it can cost a person who survives their abuser. At the age of 13, Glenn Head was sent to Chartwell Manor, the boarding school where for two years, he and the other boys that lived there underwent horrific abuse at the hands of their headmaster. Head escaped with his life, but not much else as he was left to reckon with his trauma on his own; he had to face adolescence with little resources and parents who all but denied the fact that he was abused at the hands of someone he was supposed to trust.

Most of this book takes place in the years after Chartwell Manor into adulthood, where Head faced the challenges of fitting in, managing drug and alcohol addiction, and struggling with maintaining relationships. He suffered immensely and fell into so much self-destruction as a result of one person’s evil actions. I won’t spoil the whole book but I just want to point out how inspiring it was for me personally when Head began to pursue sobriety and really, really strongly committed to staying sober. I really admire him for this.

I don’t know if Head realizes how much more powerful he made this memoir by injecting his unique and often harrowing art style between the speech bubbles; he truly captures the complete confusion, black clouds of emotional turmoil and heavily spinning intrusive thoughts he has experienced for decades. He truly was left completely alone to deal with this himself and didn’t have a single person to relate to and confide in. This is one memoir I will never forget. Much love to the author, I hope you are doing so much better now and I hope you have finally found that support system in your life.

Major TWs: graphic descriptions and illustrations - physical and sexual abuse, addiction

[Artur Coelho · Rating 4 out of 5]

Um desenhador de sucesso recorda a sua vida, marcada pelo alcoolismo e adição a pornografia, mas também pelas memórias de uma breve passagem por um colégio interno. Está aí a chave para as suas disfunções. Liderado por um carismático diretor, o colégio especializava-se em acolher jovens problemáticos de famílias afluentes. Mas o que se passava dentro das suas paredes marcava-os para a vida. O diretor era abusador, entre espancamentos e abusos sexuais, daqueles que conseguia criar uma aura de carisma e sentimento, aproveitando-se da vulnerabilidade de crianças que se sentiam desprezadas. De tal forma que quando foi finalmente condenado, muitas das suas vítimas o defenderam. A alienação da vida do desenhador, problemática apesar do seu sucesso, tem origem nesta condição de vítima, difícil de aceitar. Em evidência na narrativa está o profundo impacto que o abuso sexual de menores tem sobre toda a vida das suas vítimas, condicionando-as com traumas marcantes. Uma obra de comics autobiográfica, desenhada no estilo underground americano, fortíssima na forma como aborda o crime da pedofilia sob o olhar da vítima.

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best graphic novels of the year, a haunting, disturbing memoir of sexual abuse in a 1970s boarding school.
Glenn Head brings a vibrant, underground comix style to this harrowing story, a deep dive into the cause and effects of childhood trauma on later adult addiction issues.
Strongly recommended for fans of Bagge, Crumb, Phoebe Glockner and Joe Matt.

[João Pedro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Primeira vez lendo quadrinho undergroud e posso dizer que me diverti. A arte desconcertante e rude do Glenn Head é um convite à criatividade.
Sobre a história:
Uma biografia de como um trauma coletivo pode tomar proporções devastadoras na vida das pessoas.

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A powerful story, well-told, but the busy, high-contrast jagged art frequently reminds me of a migraine aura (not a good thing). And so I dock a star.

[Luke Lindon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard read. A graphically amazing graphic read of abuse and it’s aftermath and why it’s so hard to talk about it.

[enbok · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75

[Steve Lafler · Rating 5 out of 5]

With his comics memoir Chartwell Manor, Glenn Head delivers a tour de force graphic novel masterwork.

The narrative leads with the author's seventh and eighth grade experience at a prep school with the same name as the book title. Glenn is uneasy enough when his parents drop him off at the school, but as he explores his new environment an ugly truth quickly emerges. Young Glenn and his fellow students are subject to verbal and sexual abuse from the headmaster Mr. Lynch, who is a manipulative megalomaniac pedophile, a true nightmarish villain.

The reader sees not only the painful, harrowing reality of the author and his classmates at the hands of the monstrous Mr. Lynch, but the even greater tragedy at the center of the book is young Glenn's confusion and rage at his parents for leaving him to suffer at the hands of the arch villain.

Although the protagonist carries a typical dose of adolescent alienation with regard to his relationship with his parents, it does come through that the 13-year old boy who is left at Chartwell Manor trusts and loves his parents, and they let him down. The emotionally numb boy takes stabs at communicating his painful situation to his parents on weekend visits back home, but they literally don't want to hear it.

The story moves on to Glenn's post-Chartwell life, where he struggles with his hurt and rage with his parents. He tries to forge an honest connection with them, but they are unable to confront and accept the outrageous abuse their son has suffered. As a young adult, the author suffers through alcoholism and sex addiction as he attempts to make sense of his experience at Chartwell.

Part of the artist's huge achievement with this book is his inventive graphic storytelling. He does not shy away from using the elasticity inherent in the comics form to depict turbulent emotions and events. While a straightforward graphic storytelling remains firmly in place, the reader is nonetheless treated to near psychedelic tdepictions of sexual escapades and teenage excess, rolling by the reader in energetic waves of virtuoso cartooning.

Glenn Head writes in the back of the book that he's been inspired by the frank autobiographical comics of masters such as Justin Green, Phoebe Gloeckner and Robert Crumb. Head is a worthy auteur himself in the tradition of these exceptional artists, and he plays forward the feat of delivering an honest personal narrative in the appealing graphic novel medium with courage, wit and grace.

There are points of hard-won resolution as Glenn's story winds up. I won't spoil it for future readers by listing them here—suffice to say that this reviewer heartily recommends the book with an enthusiastic thumbs up. It ain't for the feint of heart but it's well worth the time and emotional investment to read Chartwell Manor.

[Adam Strom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chartwell Manor by Glenn Head is one of the finest graphic novels I’ve read in quite a while. If you want to read about the smelly, seedy, soft white underbelly of New York City, this book oozes sleaze. If you want to read a searing, personal confessional, full of raw emotion, and unsparing honesty, this detailed drama has the real power to draw you in and keep you reading, hanging on every new terror or triumph. The quality and depth of this work reminds me of the stuff R. Crumb or Chester Brown has done. It’s a testament to Mr. Head’s skill, power and insight as an artist and a writer.

The writing is blunt and terse at times. During some of the books quieter moments, there is a bittersweet mood of care and reflection. The story is autobiographical in nature, recounting in sense shattering detail, Glenn’s sexual abuse at the hands of a cruel and twisted boarding school headmaster. Furthermore, the book delves deeply into the life and mind of a misunderstood teenage boy, trying to make sense of a seemingly harsh and uncaring world in the turbulent 1970s. Indeed, as someone who also grew up during that time, I found myself relating to much of what the author goes through here. I could relate to Glenn’s P.O.V. quite easily. I wasn’t molested, and I didn’t go to a boarding school, but I found myself identifying with the author’s thoughts and feelings about sex, drugs, comics, and life. And his misgivings about what kind of world we’ve found ourselves in.

But as much as this graphic novel is about the agony and the ecstasy of its’ creator, the artwork is the real star here. The word that leaps to mind when trying to describe the art is liquid. The brushwork is fluid and expressive. So much so that it practically oozes booze and body fluids as much as it does India ink. Glenn Head can draw anything, from the quaint, if plain architecture of the suburbs, to the grim urban decay of the ghetto. The city scenes are populated with grime, lost souls and gutter dwellers.

There is humor here too, though it is pretty dark. You might bust a gut laughing, but you could just as easily pop a vein in ghastly horror. This is a serious piece of adult storytelling. So be warned. This is a work aimed at adults, and the subject matter is not for the easily offended.

All in all, I can easily recommend this seething, lurid, head rush (pun intended) of a book. As my high school art teacher used to say, “Jump In!” You won’t regret it. I’m already looking forward to whatever Mr. Head does next. In the meantime, I’m gonna go read another of Glenn’s graphic novels: Chicago.

[Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glenn Head's intimate and brave memoir starts with his boarding years at Chartwell Manor, an unaccredited school run by a British ex-pat who sexually and otherwise abused many boys throughout his career as headmaster. But the story is less about what happened at Chartwell, who was responsible, how the case evolved and how "Sir" finally got (not enough) jail time, and more about how Chartwell affected the rest of Head's life. It's a powerful account of living with addiction and trying to find emotional and physical intimacy where it's safe to talk about what happened. Perhaps the most heartbreaking scenes are when Head tries to talk to his parents, who are strongly dedicated to being ignorant and can't understand why he needs to dwell in the past. That trauma is the present for survivors is not a concept they understand.

Though the book is lengthy as it is, I'd have still liked more on the case. The later observation Head makes, that the headmaster wasn't just lucky, but a powerful, charismatic man who manipulated not just children, but many adults was right on, and just how well his manipulation web was weaved would have added to the story. For example, there were many teachers who witnessed the headmaster's inappropriate "punishments" for the children, so how did he prevent them from reporting him? Granted, 1) the focus here is on Head's life, not the case, and 2) perhaps writing even more about this man would have been even harder, maybe impossible, so the choices Head makes are understandable.

The art is well organized underground-style chaos. The inking in beautiful. There are some scenes where some panels seem superfluous (like do we need two identical panels with someone knocking on a door, or could we have done with just one panel with two knocks? The one- and two-page spreads are fantastic.

At times, it's hard to connect with Head. It's not clear what he's feeling. His personal relationships are very superficially explored in the book (again, probably due to some decisions about how much to include other people) and it's hard to get a picture of Head as an adult with these missing pieces.

Overall, Chartwell Manor is an engrossing, heartbreaking memoir with impressive art. Recommended for those who like cats, motorbikes, Nantucket, strip clubs and the Rolling Stones.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always liked Glenn Head's drawing style (akin to Kim Deitch in it's cartoony rubberiness with lots of action in each panel/page), but I feel like he's taken a huge step forward with this memoir. It's very raw and honest, as the best memoir comics are, and retains the feeling of an underground comic.

The first half of the book focuses on his experiences at a boarding school run by a sexual predator, but I found the second half that deals with the fallout even more interesting.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a bit surprised I think as highly of this as I do, as it combines a couple of characteristics that I often don't like in a graphic novel, namely autobiographical works and long realistic stories about the effects of childhood trauma. While I like and respect what I consider to be "the best" of autobiographical comics (Justin Green, Madison Clell, Al Davison, Alison Bechdel, etc), I find 80-90% tedious and meaningful mostly either primarily to the creator or as political propaganda (whether I agree with the stance or not), and if I bother to read them at all, it's often obviously a one-and-done thing that I'll never want to look at again and shrug over if asked. I mean, some people get more out of memoirs than fiction, but not me. Usually.

Chartwell Manor got into my hands four hours ago, along with 3 other graphic novels, and I've now read it fully twice. I love Glenn Head's art, full stop, which is why I grabbed it not long after it was released, despite my overall disdain for memoirs (especially as graphic novels), but what really caught me were how weirdly RELATABLE the entire thing was, though nothing much like what happened in Head's life happened in mine--boarding school, late baby boomerdom, and 12 step meetings are not a part of me--and how difficult it must have been to choose to turn such long, long, LONG lasting issues into a massively impressive work of art. While there are a few bits of Head's crazy abstract-ishwork scattered throughout, this is mostly work in a clear line of descent from (or maybe to? I'm not 100% sure how old some of these pages are) his last memoir, Chicago. I missed it, but not enough to really care given how caught up I became in the story.

My immediate impression is that this is a masterpiece.

[Rod Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glenn Head details his sexual molestation by the headmaster of a private boarding school in New Jersey in the 1970s and examines how the trauma echoed through his life for decades after. He writes and illustrates in a style influenced by underground comics of the era, so there is a lot of nudity and the abuse is sometimes graphically depicted. He portrays himself in a warts and all manner, exposing his faults and failures as much as those around him.

Head does keep the focus on himself though and that strict perspective leaves the scope and eventual fallout when the abuse becomes public a bit vague, limited to a few newspaper clippings and short visits with a couple of his fellow classmates years later. But then this isn't a history, it's a personal journey, one that is long, sad, and depressing.

[Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise and fall of New Jerseys pedofile hidden secret for years!
Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2021
Verified Purchase
For those being swept away by other pedofile investigations, this one takes the cake. While it still is in investagation through the wounds of the Lynch Thugs and backers and supporters. Glenns stories are real . I know I served 4 years of torture under Lynch and still as I aged, remember his shocking manipulating years of my youth with him. I am quite amazed that New Jersey didn't catch him sooner! Bravo Glenn , and sorry for your years, but mine was destroyed too. Great Book, and scary but true. No child should go through this at all. Glens descriptive account is the one of many, Lynch has done plenty more as those years went on and got away with too much!

[Hannah Garden]

Jesus. A real harrowing one.

[Björn]

Head vísar til þess bæði í formála og í sögunni sjálfri að hér sé komin enn ein ævisögulega myndasagan sem fjallar um tráma, það hafi verið gert ótal sinnum áður og hvað ætli þessi versjón hafi annað fram að færa? Hann vísar líka beint í comix kanónuna þaðan sem þessi hefð er svo að segja sprottin.

Lunginn úr bókinni fjallar um það að forðast trámað og deyfa sig gagnvart því, en þegar Head tekst loks á við það sem hann upplifði sem strákur, þá er niðurstaðan frekar niðurdrepandi og tómleg. Nema mögulega fyrir hann sjálfan. Það mætti segja að með þessu fari sagan aðrar slóðir en venjan er, en það eru aðrir sem moka þetta myrkur, Chester Brown eða Joe Matt eru á svipuðum slóðum. Chartwell Manor hefur hinsvegar breiðari skírskotun þar sem skólahneykslið var miklu mun stærra dæmi en Head sjálfur.

Viðtölin við gömlu skólabræðurna eru með því betra í bókinni og standa á þessum mörkum: þau eru óþægileg, óræð, hversdagsleg, veita engin svör og enga lúkningu fyrir Head.

En ansi margt í bókinni virkar aukreitis, jafnvel þó að punkturinn sé að hluta til að sýna fram á stefnuleysið í soranum. Hann hættir að drekka án þess að fipast flugið og það kemur pínulítið a óvart, en sýnir um leið að björninn er ekki unninn þótt áfengið sé úr sögunni. En þá kemur kynlífsfíknin einhvernveginn í staðinn, sem djöfull að draga, en virkar aldrei eins sannfærandi.. sem hljómar undarlega þar sem þetta er eða á að vera ævisögulegt. Af hverju ætti Head ekki að segja frá því sem gerðist?

Þetta er hnúturinn í þessari hefð: hefur sagan gildi vegna þess að hún er sönn? Eða vegna þess að atburðirnir voru/eru mikilvægir? Eða vegna þess að hún segir sögu undirokaðra? Er hún góð eða vel gerð ef hún fangar veruleikann? Er það sama hver veruleikinn er?

Kaflinn um skólann er eins vel gerður og hægt er að hugsa sér, held ég. Fangar mjög ákveðna, þrúgandi, ómanneskjulega en mennska stemningu í bjagaðri tilveru.

Eftirmálin eru upp og ofan og lendingin eða lendingarnar á stundum þvingaðar, og ég held það hefði ekki þurft að fara þannig nema ég held að Head sé etv of meðvitaður um að hann sé að skrifa í kjölfarið á vinsælustu vestrænu myndasögum síðustu 30 ára eða hvað það er.

Hann er samt óneitanlega góður myndasöguhöfundur og teiknari. Gullfallegar síður í svörtu og hvítu. Það sem ég vildi að allir þessir gutlarar sem dreifa gráum blýanti yfir allar síður út í eitt myndu lesa þessa bók og sjá að stundum er allt í lagi að sjáist í hvítt.

[Susana P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Voici une lecture choc, comment ne pas être choqué par la violence des faits décrits dans ce récit, d'autant plus lorsque l'on sait que l'histoire est autobiographique. Le jeune Glenn est envoyé dans un pensionnat du New Jersey, un établissement privé réputé pour sa pédagogie stricte. Le site ressemble à une école britannique mais on est loin de Poudlard. Glenn a 12 ans, il redouble sa 5ème et ses parents souhaitent qu'il redresse son niveau scolaire ainsi que son attitude. Très vite, il découvre que les conditions de vie de ce pensionnat sont cruelles et violentes. La nourriture est mauvaise et il n'a pas les moyens de s'acheter à manger en dehors de la cantine, Glenn a donc régulièrement faim. C'est sans doute le plus soft dans cette histoire. Il y a surtout des brimades, des fessées, des gifles, etc. Et puis, le directeur M. Lynch qui instaure peur et relation émotionnelle malsaine en l'absence des parents, pratique des attouchements sexuels sur les garçons. Glenn ne parvient pas à en parler à ses parents, d'ailleurs veulent-ils simplement l'entendre ? Quelques décennies plus tard Glenn découvre que l'ancien directeur de Chartwell a été arrêté pour pédophilie et mauvais sévices. De nombreuses douleurs remontent. Glenn fait le lien entre ce qu'il a vu et subi et les pulsions sexuelles et addictions qu'il ne peut freiner et ravagent sa vie. Il retrouve aussi d'anciens camarades de classe dévastés, beaucoup ayant mal tourné. Et lorsqu'il tente à nouveau d'en discuter avec ses parents, alors qu'il est désormais père lui aussi, il se confronte à un mur et on lui renvoie la responsabilité de ne pas avoir parlé à l'époque. Quelle violence, quel échec du système judiciaire. C'est un album fort et poignant qui décrit très bien les conséquences de tels sévices sur des parcours individuels. Glenn Head est une figure de la bande dessinée américaine inspiré par la bd des années 60 ; il a collaboré avec Crumb et fut l'élève de Spiegelman. Dans cet album il raconte sans détours son enfance brisée et ce qu'il porte pour toujours de ces deux années de pensionnat. un sujet oh combien difficile qu'il transcrit au scalpel avec une imagerie souvent surprenante. C'est dur mais c'est vraiment un album réussi.

[Todd Steinberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first learned of Glenn Head from Instagram and immediately liked his style, as it’s obvious Robert Crumb is a significant influence.

I loved both the story and the art. As an added bonus, I appreciated how he noted all the details you might miss with little Dick Tracy-like captions. It makes me wish I did the same with my current work in progress.

What I admired most was how thoughtful Mr. Head was in his storytelling. Sometimes, in these types of memoirs where the going gets really tough, it’s almost too hard to read. Glenn had a surgical-strike accuracy when portraying the abuse he endured and the second-order effects of the ordeal. At no point did I feel like I wouldn’t be able to finish the page or the book, unlike with Habibi by Craig Thompson, where I almost didn’t want to finish because you knew you'd feel despondent after.

I thought he treated the other victims with both candor and respect, including his portrayal of his parents. The only villain in the novel is “Sir,” and he made that quite obvious while still showing the moral gray areas of the secondary characters.

The art comes to life in the best way when he portrays both his drug abuse and sexual exploits. Nothing makes you feel grossed out or is too over the top. He balances the heavy subject matter with humor and a stylistic flair that underscores the mood with as few words as possible.

For me, this graphic novel is a textbook example of storytelling in the genre of memoirs.

[David Karlsson]

Den här serieromanen hade jag väldigt svårt att lägga ifrån mig, den var mycket bättre än jag hade förväntat mig och är bland det bästa självbiografiska jag läst på ett bra tag.

Handlar om Heads tid på en internatskola där rektorn både misshandlar och utför sexuella övergrepp på eleverna, men kanske ännu mer om livet efter skoltiden och hans misslyckade försök att leva med traumat han utsatts för. Som all bra självbiografi är det smärtsamt utelämnande och Head gör inte mycket för att man som läsare ska fatta sympati för honom (i förordet antyder han till och med att vissa läsare nog kommer att ha svårare för de senare delarna än för skoltiden, och jag tror att han har en poäng där). Det är brutalt ärligt helt enkelt, och därför intressant och engagerande.

Teckningsstilen känns som klassisk amerikansk underground. Inte en stil jag normalt kanske är överförtjust i men här fungerar det utmärkt. Dels för att det är just i den seriemiljön Head är uppvuxen och har verkat och därför delvis skildrar, och dels för att det lite groteska och mörka i den stilen förstärker berättelsen. Det är otroligt detaljrikt med tidstypiska referenser inslängda överallt, och hade man varit uppvuxen i USA/New York hade det säkert varit en fröjd att känna igen platser och företeelser. Nu är jag inte det, men detaljerna och miljöerna underhåller ändå.

(Tidigare publicerad på Instagram utan betyg, sätter därför inget såhär i efterhand.)

[Peter Derk]

When you first pick this one up, it's sort of hard to look at. There is SO MUCH ART on every page.

It's a little like looking at an R. Crumb or maybe Charles Burns picture about 1 inch from your eyeball.

But then it calms down, or maybe your brain learns the language of it, and it's cool. So if you open it up and feel like it's super busy, I say give it a couple dozen pages.

This is one of those books I don't want to rate, star-wise, because it's about abuse suffered by Glenn Head and a bunch of people he went to boarding school with. Super fucked up, and, well, I don't know, it's hard to rate something like that without feeling like you're rating the act of putting such a story to paper, which takes some serious balzac.

I do appreciate that Glenn believes that the abuse he suffered has caused problems throughout his life, but he doesn't necessarily force the reader to believe the same thing. This is like the least "woe is me" narrative with the most fucked-up shit I think I've ever read. The ratio of how bad things were for Glenn to how little time he seems to spend feeling sorry for himself is different than the norm for this sort of comic, and it's a good read as a result. It just gives you a different perspective, or maybe helps a reader see that this shit hits different people differently.