Every Girl is the End of the World for Me

The Girlfriend Trilogy

by Jeffrey Brown

Autobiographical cartoonist Jeffrey Brown provides an epilogue to his Girlfriend Trilogy, detailing the day-by-day events of a three week run-in with five different girls. Watch and be mesmerized by an ex coming back into the picture, a growing but poorly chosen crush, musings on the way friends come and go in life and a realization that the end is never really the end.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Comix, Nonfiction, Memoir, Sequential Art

104 pages, Paperback

First published April 4, 2006

About the author

Jeffrey Brown was born in 1975 in Grand Rapids, Michigan and grew up reading comic books with dreams of someday drawing them, only to abandon them and focus on becoming a 'fine artist.' While earning his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Brown abandoned painting and began drawing comics with his first autobiographical book 'Clumsy' in 2001. Since then he's drawn a dozen books for publishers including TopShelf, Fantagraphics, Drawn & Quarterly, McSweeney's and Chronicle Books. Simon & Schuster published his latest graphic memoir 'Funny Misshapen Body.' In addition to directing an animated video for the band Death Cab For Cutie, Brown has had his work featured on NPR's 'This American Life' His art has been shown at galleries in New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Los Angeles and Paris. Jeffrey's work has also appeared in the Best American Comics series and received the Ignatz Award in 2003 for 'Outstanding Minicomic.'
He currently lives in Chicago with his wife Jennifer and their son Oscar.

Reviews

[Malbadeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't the title alone make you want to read this? I did for me.

My family is full of artists, I am not one of them. If I were I would totaly copy Brown's idea and make a picture gallery of the boys that have been in my life. It would include

-the fellow camp counselor that snuck out of his cabin each night to meet me in vacant "staff lounge".

-the foreign exchange student my mom made me go to prom with. AFTER I'D GRADUATED!

-the Australian boy I spent a week in NY with that was impressed by using Sign Language with a street vendor.

-the lawyer that stopped calling me for a few years after I dropped a hairdryer in his toilet, ripped his quilt, let his dog out, spilled soda on the Mercedes dealerships carpeted show room floor, got gum on his shirt, put my feet on his dashboard and straw-that-broke-the-camels-back, changed the radio station too frequently.

-the one that was 18 years older and shared my love of Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and other such superficialities.

-the one I married and divorced after 12 years of being called "dude" and "man"

-the one who's ex-girlfriend wanted me to be in an "open-relationship" with her and him.

-the hot-headed chef with the sexy accent and the affinity for all things..."fun".

and then I would force my compulsion to catalog to shut up and not list everyone because that would be tacky and make me look in-accurately slutty and Jeffrey Brown wasn't tacky or slutty so I wouldn't want to be either.

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was ok. I'd read an interview and thought from that perhaps there would be some self-realization or closure from the girlfriend trilogy but there wasn't really and I'm still left feeling a little weird about how Brown writes women (I had assumed before there was more self-awareness of his own "nice guy" attitude, but now I'm not so sure). to be fair, memoirs and memories are allowed to be whatever the author wants them to be, but this just didn't resonate with me personally.

[Dov Zeller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great little book (though I have the strange feeling I read all of these stories in the context of a longer Jeffrey Brown book). It's a small graphic journal type of experience that covers a few weeks of a certain winter with many relationships half-starting and half-ending or just ambiguously not quite doing either. The book has a funny kind of dramatic movement. It's evenly paced (no acceleration of intensity) and charming, with much coughing (Jeffrey Brown gets one of those colds at the start of the book that turns into a several weeks cough and by the end he still hasn't fully kicked it.) I tend to love Jeffrey Brown as an awkward, tender, under-confident, not so suave and hilariously observant (but without the ability to take too much action) male protagonist.

[Cris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Every girl…

The art work is the typical JB but storyline was not there for me. It seemed he blames his problem on one girl while he’s juggling how many??

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet, mostly, and funny. Jeffery Brown's memoir comics are among my favorites ever, and this is one of my favorites from him. Get this: It features ALL the girl encounters he has over one winter break, all of them going badly, comically badly. We hurt for him. And he is us! He beats himself up and makes fun of himself. He doesn't get girls! He is a common, ordinary guy!

This has a Grand Rapids-Chicago connection I very much like because those are my towns, where I also came from, and now live. I also like how it reminds me of the sense of myself for a long time, that I did not know what to say to girls, and it felt like it usually went badly. . . Very shy. And the sketchy DIY sketchy style fits the unshaved everyman guy quality of the book.

Also, it is a small, handheld book, which I have lent to literally dozens of people, who I hope now own it for themselves. Sweet. Pathetic, sometimes painful, but sweet.

[Marissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I like Jeffrey Brown. He's really nerdy and his drawing style is ridiculously cute. As a girl who gets annoyed with nerdy boys being dumb and awkward when it is OBVIOUS what is going on, sometimes this comic book was hard to read. I like it, but in a kind of cringey indie sort of way.

[Sooraya Evans · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull and all over the place.
Can't see the point of it all.
Thank God I borrowed this from some one.

[Roberta Frontini (Blogue FLAMES) · Rating 1 out of 5]

What was the point of this story?!???

[Chris Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fast read (I completed it over a long lunch) about two weeks of his life where he was rather desperately falling for every woman who was nice to him. While having a cold.

I enjoy Brown's everyday life approach, where no detail is too private or small. Yet, this one feels a bit self-indulgent. It was also hard to follow since there are so many characters. As a quick read, it is worthwhile, but it won't change your life.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an epilogue to the author's Girlfriend Trilogy (which I have not read- but it did not stop me from understanding or enjoying this text), detailing the day-by-day events of a three week run-in with five different girls. A fun book, very understated. Many people do not like his style of art which they call "childish", but I think it fits the subject matter here perfectly.

[Brennan De · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book when I was in the "girl trouble" stage of my 20s. It was impactful then & legitimately helped me have healthier relationships. Feels a bit juvenile now that I'm older, but I guess that's life.

[Sneha Jaiswal]

Just a guy talking with different women, some friends... some crushes... and an ex-girlfriend who gets to break his heart all over again.

Very boring and forgettable. I wasn't a big fan of the artwork either.

Not for me.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book chronicling a couple of weeks in Brown’s life.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The epilogue to the “Girlfriend Trilogy”. Thankfully a little more cheerful than the others. The illustrations, text and overall scope are getting better. Enjoyable but forgetful as well.

[Karla Gontijo · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5/3 ⭐

[Liz Yerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Jeff brown stuff // fairy basic but v approachable

[Nancy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't think it was funny. I wasn't impressed. Guess you had to be there.

[Kricket · Rating 3 out of 5]

Early awkward Jeffrey Brown.

[Mauro German · Rating 3 out of 5]

Esta vez algo mas corto. Siento que "le falto" algo pero estuvo entretenido.

[Logan Polk · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s like reading about myself. Loved it.

[Eider Sánchez · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s too anticlimactic. But I guess it’s honest in that sense. Sometimes life’s just like that.

[Matti Karjalainen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jeffrey Brownin surumielisessä tyttöystävä-trilogiassa oli vielä jotakin viehättävää, mutta "Every Girl Is The End Of The World For Me" alkaa maistua jo puulta. Kolmen viikon ajanjaksolle sijoittuva ihmissuhdetilitys ei jaksa herättää minkäänlaista tunnereaktiota satunnaisessa lukijassa, ellei tämä satu tuntemaan Brownia henkilökohtaisesti.

Tarinan opetus? Omaa elämää voi ja kannattaa käyttää sarjakuvan tai romaanin lähdeaineistona, mutta sen suora siirtäminen paperille ei ole välttämättä se kaikkein hedelmällisin lähtökohta.

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute tiny little semi-autobiographical book that can be read in a couple of minutes about one guy's adventures in dating in the course of a couple weeks. I appreciated the "guide" in the beginning of the women because it was kind of hard to keep track of who was who, and the drawings didn't strongly differentiate between the women. His coughing thing was sort of annoying...was it really just a cold he couldn't shake, or was it more like a nervous habit?

[dejah_thoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute slice-of-life graphic novel about developing relationships and rekindling old ones. On the plus side, I like Brown's art because it reminds me that you don't have to have perfect drawing skills to tell a good story. On the downside, many of the women look very similar (except the ex) so it can be a bit tricky to follow the plot. Also, why is Brown such a stud?

[Craig Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable quick read and I'm not just saying that because A.) I'm working on a similar idea for a comic and B.) Jeffrey's ex happens to have the same name as one of my exes. Jeffrey does a great job of capturing genuine vignettes of his life. I can only hope my own comic does that so effectively (though, of course, in a totally different way).

[Amy J · Rating 5 out of 5]

this graphic novel/comic is a quick read with lots of funny details about the women in jeffrey brown's life. recommended by a friend who actually knows the guy. i got it on sale at the cartoon art museum. woohoo!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jeffrey Brown proves his abilitiy to capture the subtle nuances of relationships yet again. At times during the book, I found myself acutely aware of similarities between myself and the characters. A real joy to read with a cup of coffee and a mind open to fond nostalgia for past relationships.

[Wes Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

As far as his relationship books go, this is leaps and bounds better than clumsy. Hell, I'm amazed that he hangs out with so many girls/potential flings in such a short period of time! This book is mildly funny but, most importantly, not whiny (well, not in a sickening kind of way)!

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually read this twice because the women in his life were confusing to keep track of. But this is basically everything I want in a graphic novel: a sweet, almost whimsical, slice of life (specifically romantic life in this book).