Like many of the graphic memoirs we read at the beginning of this semester (Lucky, Imposter's Daughter...) I had some love and some hate for this book. It reminded me a lot of Lucky, though Julia's sense of humor/sarcasm in Drinking at the Movies made this memoir much more compelling. i literally had to keep my eyes open to finish Lucky, to be honest.
Things I noticed in this memoir:
- circular story telling - starting with the scene in the laundromat, telling us what took her there and coming back to that same scene on p86.
- her apologies/recognition of her white privilege (but her simultaneous indulgence in her privileges)....I particularly loved the panel on p146 captioned "Boring Ass White Kids" where she points at herself ironically. It would have been harder to read this memoir if she never made fun of whiteness
- p92 - the mystery theater episode that takes over for a few pages. i loved this part. it was arguably my favorite part of the memoir. here she graphically shows the relationship between her alcoholic self and her brain. i think these pages show the epitome of her self destructive humor. she starts in her introduction by saying that her best advice is to never take yourself too seriously....i think she does that very well in these pages.
though a really, really small part of this memoir, the most interesting part was the depth of her emotional connection with her body. this manifested itself in two small parts of the book. again, this is a really small part of the memoir, but its something that i'm really interested in in-general and i was surprised to find it in this memoir.
the first example is on p48 when she gets shingles because of the stresses she was going through moving to new york. the second example is on p57 about "phantom limbs" where her legs start to hurt "for no reason" and then she finds out that her brother was hospitalized for OD'ing. In America, people try to rationalize sensations/illnesses of the body and I loved that she didnt. these parts of the book occur back to back (10 pages away from each other) and really left an imprint on me. They allowed me to glimpse into some of the deeper/wiser parts of her mind/spirit....the parts that she tries to push her friends and the reader away from for with her sarcasm and self-defeating humor in the rest of the book.
Things I noticed in this memoir:
- circular story telling - starting with the scene in the laundromat, telling us what took her there and coming back to that same scene on p86.
- her apologies/recognition of her white privilege (but her simultaneous indulgence in her privileges)....I particularly loved the panel on p146 captioned "Boring Ass White Kids" where she points at herself ironically. It would have been harder to read this memoir if she never made fun of whiteness
- p92 - the mystery theater episode that takes over for a few pages. i loved this part. it was arguably my favorite part of the memoir. here she graphically shows the relationship between her alcoholic self and her brain. i think these pages show the epitome of her self destructive humor. she starts in her introduction by saying that her best advice is to never take yourself too seriously....i think she does that very well in these pages.
though a really, really small part of this memoir, the most interesting part was the depth of her emotional connection with her body. this manifested itself in two small parts of the book. again, this is a really small part of the memoir, but its something that i'm really interested in in-general and i was surprised to find it in this memoir.
the first example is on p48 when she gets shingles because of the stresses she was going through moving to new york. the second example is on p57 about "phantom limbs" where her legs start to hurt "for no reason" and then she finds out that her brother was hospitalized for OD'ing. In America, people try to rationalize sensations/illnesses of the body and I loved that she didnt. these parts of the book occur back to back (10 pages away from each other) and really left an imprint on me. They allowed me to glimpse into some of the deeper/wiser parts of her mind/spirit....the parts that she tries to push her friends and the reader away from for with her sarcasm and self-defeating humor in the rest of the book.
Thanks for this post Shaina. I similarly thought the circular strategy in narrative construction worked powerfully in this text. She also cues us back to prior moments a few times as the story moves forward which I think helps to build a holistic sense of her world and for us to remain navigated in the story.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that she actually "recognizes" her white privilege. Certainly she evokes whiteness throughout the text but I guess I understand recognition to hold some kind of deeper engagement (criticism/ownership) which I don't really see take place.
Thanks for your final paragraph on phantom limbs... I agree!
I too made the comparison between Lucky and this memoir. Absolutely the likeable-ness of this text likely has much to do with her use of humor throughout. I also enjoyed that she at the very least, confronted the irony in some of the things she did and said concerning her "whiteness" and "privilege". Though I would like to think she is "apologizing" for it or "recognizing" it in the sense that Mia suggests, well I suppose thats up to us to surmise. Though I do think, at the very least she is presenting it throughout the text.
ReplyDeleteI never made the connection between her "ailments" and some sort of deeper insights into mind/spirit, perhaps because through her whole shingles fiasco I was saying to myself, "Really herpes of the ass?!! Dumbass!!" but I suppose the whole "phantom limb" thing does present some sort of "deeper" insight into who and what she she. At least I would like to think so...
I'm glad you brought up the moment where she points to herself with "Boring ass white kid." I thought that some of her best / most comedic moments were at moments like these that happened in the background or out of the spotlight. Like the drawing of the box on its side that reads "This end up." These moments were my favorite.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing.
Margaret S
The humor seems to assuage the white privilege heebie jeebies, we say from our lovely private college. The relationship to politics and identity are handled in multiple ways in this memoir, and a discussion of that would related to voice, tone and craft. I appreciated pointing out the Mystery Theater parts, Shaina and this and all her self hatred, is an interesting strategy to deflect the responsibility she admits to in the narrative.
ReplyDeleteyou stir it up
e
Yes, the Mystery Theatre! Do you think that this could be added to your point about her connection to her own body?
ReplyDeleteLucille
Added as in, her day-dream mystery theatre was her self watching herself loose connection with her brain, but she's so aware of it because of that solid connection?
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