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Original Essays | September 23, 2009

Jonathan Lethem: IMG Stops: On Those Things My New Novel Forgot to Be About, Maybe



For me, there's a weird, unfathomable gulf — I almost wrote gulp — between the completion of a novel and its publication. Some days this duration feels interminable, as though the book has... Continue »
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More copies of this ISBN:

Awkward and Definition: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag

by Ariel Schrag

Awkward and Definition: The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag Cover

ISBN13: 9781416552314
ISBN10: 1416552316
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Ariel Schrag captures the American high school experience in all its awkward, questioning glory in Awkward and Definition, the first of three amazingly honest autobiographical graphic novels about her teenage years.

During the summer following each year at Berkeley High School in California, Ariel wrote a comic book about her experiences, which she would then photocopy and sell around school. Some friends thrilled to see themselves in the comic, others not so much, but everyone was interested.

Awkward chronicles Ariel's freshman year, and Definition, her sophomore year. With anxiety in excess and frustration to the fullest, Ariel dives in — meeting new people, going to concerts, crushing out, loving chemistry, drawing comics, and obsessing over everything from glitter-laden girls to ionic charges and the constant pursuit of the number-one score.

Totally true and achingly honest, with every cringe-inducing encounter and exhilarating first moment documented — Awkward and Definition is an unflinching look at what it's like being a teenage girl in America.

Review:

"Many memoirs both inside and outside the world of comics cover the author's high school years. Far fewer are actually written during those years. Touchstone has started reprinting Schrag's comics chronicling her teenage years through the mid-'90s. Each of the volumes in Schrag's series was created in the summer of the year it chronicles. This book includes Awkward, about Schrag's freshman year, and Definition, which concerns her sophomore year. It's hard not to notice that the books were written and drawn by a young artist. The artwork is simple and, yes, awkward, especially in Awkward, where the characters look like punk versions of the Peanuts cast. But rather than being a drawback, the artwork is actually charming. It's clear that Schrag is pushing herself. Even at this age, she had already attained the ability to keep the storytelling smooth and fast-paced, even if the stories she's actually telling aren't remarkable. The typical teenage concerns of sex, drugs, drama with friends and the importance of music are all covered. The book is comfortable because it's so easy to relate to." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"An imaginative anthropologist of the post-punk set." The Village Voice

Review:

"Impossible to put down." The Minnesota Daily

Review:

"Schrag's perceptiveness and incredible eye for detail make Definition brilliant. Rarely have I seen such substantial work come from a person of her age." The San Francisco Bay Guardian

Review:

"A scathing and meticulously documented autobiographical triumph." Alison Bechdel, author of Fun House

About the Author

Ariel Schrag is also the author of the autobiographical comic books Potential, which was nominated for an Eisner Award, and Likewise. She divides her time between Los Angeles and New York.

Product Details

ISBN:
9781416552314
Subtitle:
The High School Comic Chronicles of Ariel Schrag
Author:
Schrag, Ariel
Publisher:
Touchstone Books
Subject:
Personal Memoirs
Subject:
General
Subject:
Graphic Novels
Copyright:
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Publication Date:
April 2008
Binding:
Paperback
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
84
Dimensions:
1084x833x40 87

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