Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Graphic Novel Version of an Indie Film, 11 Mar 2007
I'd never checked out anything by Robinson before, but the opening pages intrigued me enough to take it home for the weekend. And at the end, the overall effect was kind of like reading the graphic novel equivalent of a reasonably decent indie film. The obvious comparison is to ones like Short Cuts or Amores Perros, since the book alternates between the stories of six unrelated characters whose lives intersect over the course of the book until they come together at the climax. The six characters are: Ray Beam (a reclusive rock star mired in several years of writer's block), Steve (an obsessive and possibly schizophrenic fan of Ray's), Lily (a young Latina woman who becomes Ray's assistant), Nick (a struggling father and husband who forges sports star autographs for a living), Phoebe (a small-town teenager coming to the big city to find the father she never met), and Caprice (a waitress at a kitschy diner run by a gay couple).
The book is divided into fifty sections, each of which focuses on one of the six protagonists. This gives us plenty of time to get to know them, which is both a good and a bad thing. Ray is basically a total cliche of an ex-rock star: fancy home, lots of drugs, elaborate sex with hookers, total self-centeredness and inability to relate to the outside world. His writer's block isn't particularly interesting, and his portrayal is so over the top and implausible that it's hard take his focal position seriously. Similarly, Lily's role as the naive young woman who drifts into his life and falls in love with him is a thankless one, as she's basically reduced to playing a supporting love interest role. Ray's obsessed fan is marginally more interesting, but more for his venom and bile than as a nuanced characters. He's an IT support guy with some kind of mental illness (schizophrenia maybe?), and has stopped taking his meds. This makes him increasingly rude, erratic, and ultimately dangerous, which, again, is familiar turf. (There is a nice bit though where he goes to see his grandmother and you get a glimpse of his humanity trying to break through.)
The forger is a rather more interesting cat -- a husband and father who lies to his family about his job, and gets more and more involved in his crooked Russian boss's schemes. The teenager comes from New Mexico to find her father and eventually winds up at the diner where the waitress works. She's kind of a nonentity in the story, and her arc isn't particularly interesting. Finally, waitress Caprice is the most compelling character and clearly the heart and soul of the book. Her name is perhaps a little too coy, but otherwise, her parts are the most engaging and real. It's a bit disappointing then, that her self-sabotaging nature is exaggerated to the point that she shuts out on the guy she's in love with to hang out with the increasingly aggressive and annoying Nick.
In any event, the various storylines all dovetail in a violent climax at the diner that is reasonably predictable and reasonably satisfying. Again, like many decent indie films, it's enjoyable and maintains one's interest, with some typical characers and a few nice moments, but doesn't leave much of an impact or lasting impression.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Slice of life., 30 May 2009
So, I'm trying to open minded about this whole graphic novel business, done Watchmen, Maus, Sandman, League of Extraordinary nonsense and so on, but what else is there? I mean, I really enjoyed those but.....
"Looking for a graphic novel without the violence(OK just one bit) and the superheroes(I really liked this set of sub heroes) then give this a go".
Alex Robinson does a good job of creating an engaging set of sub plots surrounding work and love lives and then weaving them together at first gently and then with a growing sense of awful inevitability into a book that is happily satisfying.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Worth reading!, 18 Jun 2007
Nothing profound to say about this but I read it in one sitting, (literally - was waiting for someone in a car for a couple of hours while it rained outside) and thoroughly enjoyed it, pages flying by. I cared about the characters and actively fretted about some of their decisions and actions... And the pop music references, FOR ONCE, were spot on and witty sharp. Good stuff.
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