Ghost World
1998 Ignatz Award Winner, Outstanding Graphic Novel: The inspiration for the feature film and one of the most acclaimed graphic novels ever.\ Ghost World has become a cultural and generational touchstone, and continues to enthrall and inspire readers over a decade after its original release as a graphic novel. Originally serialized in the pages of the seminal comic book Eightball throughout the mid-1990s,\ this quasi-autobiographical story (the name of one of the protagonists is famously an...
Search in google:
1998 Ignatz Award Winner, Outstanding Graphic Novel: The inspiration for the feature film and one of the most acclaimed graphic novels ever.School Library JournalYA--Eight interconnected stories about two teens. Enid and Rebecca have been friends for so long that it's difficult for either of them to let the other grow or change. Now Enid will probably leave their working-class neighborhood and go away to college and Rebecca cannot accept this change in their relationship. Enid is the more radical and dramatic of the two, the one who talks a male friend into escorting her into an X-rated "adult" store. Rebecca is not so much a follower as simply more circumspect. She's the one who reasons that Josh, a friend they're both guilty of provoking sexually, really deserves to sleep with one of them after all the teasing he's weathered. While the vocabulary here is raunchy, it is accurate for the characters. These realistic 18-year-olds don't always talk nice and don't always act nice but they do have moral fiber underneath their tough-girl exteriors. It's just that they're at a point in life and a place in society where exteriors are a lot more important than nice. This is a book with distinct appeal to urban high school students, but it's certainly not for their younger brothers and sisters. Depending on where your comics are shelved, add this one where the age-appropriate audience is most likely to find it. The artwork is evocative and tasteful and the book can serve as a bridge to more literary stories of friendships.--Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
\ The Onion A.V. Club“If there was ever a comic book story meant to be examined by non-comics fans, it's this, a classic in any medium.”\ \ \ \ \ Time“The most readable comic of the year.”\ \ \ The Simpsons“I really identified with the girls in Ghost World. They made me feel like I wasn't so alone.”— Lisa Simpson\ \ \ \ \ Wizard“The appeal of Daniel Clowes’ breakout graphic novel lies not from what could be predictable plotting, but from its engaging character work. It is the relationship between outsider teens Enid and Rebecca that holds readers in its hilariously cynical sway from panel one.”\ \ \ \ \ The Village Voice“[Clowes] spells out the realities of teen angst as powerfully and authentically as Salinger did in The Catcher in the Rye for an eariler generation.”\ \ \ \ \ Graphic Novel Reporter“In Ghost World, Daniel Clowes doesn’t romanticize the teenage experience or show teenage girls as sweet and idealistic. His portrayal is raw, cynical, and honest, often hitting the nail on the head.... This graphic novel is very funny, but it's also very sad, and sometimes it’s both at the same time.... Though it's only 80 pages long, this graphic novel still manages to leave a deep impression.”— Danica Davidson\ \ \ \ \ Paste Magazine“Ranked #6 of The 20 Best Graphic Novels of the Decade (2009).”\ \ \ \ \ Details“Ranked #10 of "The 25 Greatest Gen X Books of All Time" (2009).”\ \ \ \ \ School Library JournalYA--Eight interconnected stories about two teens. Enid and Rebecca have been friends for so long that it's difficult for either of them to let the other grow or change. Now Enid will probably leave their working-class neighborhood and go away to college and Rebecca cannot accept this change in their relationship. Enid is the more radical and dramatic of the two, the one who talks a male friend into escorting her into an X-rated "adult" store. Rebecca is not so much a follower as simply more circumspect. She's the one who reasons that Josh, a friend they're both guilty of provoking sexually, really deserves to sleep with one of them after all the teasing he's weathered. While the vocabulary here is raunchy, it is accurate for the characters. These realistic 18-year-olds don't always talk nice and don't always act nice but they do have moral fiber underneath their tough-girl exteriors. It's just that they're at a point in life and a place in society where exteriors are a lot more important than nice. This is a book with distinct appeal to urban high school students, but it's certainly not for their younger brothers and sisters. Depending on where your comics are shelved, add this one where the age-appropriate audience is most likely to find it. The artwork is evocative and tasteful and the book can serve as a bridge to more literary stories of friendships.--Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA\ \
