Books: Clumsy

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Clumsy
By Jeffrey Brown
2003





Available now from Islington Libraries
You can reserve this item for free here:
http://www.library.islington.gov.uk/TalisPrism/

It's not you - it's me. Maybe. Or maybe not. Maybe it is you. Yeah. It's you.

There's a mini-film genre that sprung up round the turn of the century which got tagged with the spot-on descriptor "mumblecore." (ha! "mumblecore"!) The films all look like they cost about 50p to make: with production values low or non-existent. The main characters aren't played by actors - but whoever the director knows or whoever was unlucky enough to be caught hanging around. All the protagonists are typically white, middle class, thoroughly-heterosexual guys in their mid-to-late twenties (hell - like most films right?): normally stuck in some kinda post-college funk. And - it's always about relationships and stuff - rather than (I don't know) stories (full disclosure: I like stories). Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown is the mumblecore of comics: the artwork (urg - so called) each page looks like it took about 10 seconds to toss off: it's all frazzled dirty lines and scribbled out mistakes: the story is (I assume - no one could be bothered to make up something so lifeless and dull) non-fictional: the whole clumsy (ho ho ho) make-up and break-up of a relationship told in painstakingly minute detail and lots and lots of naked hanging around and non-sexy sex.

I did not see the point of this book and was annoyed that I wasted my time reading as much of it as I did before I threw it into the fire (I knew we shouldn't have put a fireplace in the bedroom). Of course that doesn't mean that you won't enjoy it (or whatever the word is): but only if you don't care about things like being able to draw properly and other stupid stuff like that. And to be fair: lots and lots of people have praised it for it's unflinching intimacy and naked portrayal of blah blah blah.

And I want you to know that it's not that I have anything against the genre. I just don't like stuff when it's done so poorly. If you think that this might be the kind of book that you might go for then I'd recommend you try the superior Blankets, Blue Pills or Shortcomings. Which do the same kinda thing but much much much better.

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Links: The Iceberg Interview with Jeffrey Brown.

Further reading: Blankets, Blue Pills, Shortcomings, Hicksville, It's a Good Life If You Don't Weaken, I Never Liked You.

All comments welcome.