The Alcoholic
by Jonathan Ames
List Price:
Our Price: $11.13
You Save: $8.86 (44%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.88 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Jonathan AmesIllustrator: Dean Haspiel
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2008-09-30
ISBN: 1401210562
Number of pages: 136
Publisher: Vertigo
Book Reviews of The Alcoholic
Book Review: Offers Nothing New
Summary: 2 Stars
As a fan of graphic storytelling, I'm always curious when writers from outside the form try their hand at it (as seems to be increasingly the case). I 've never Ames, but he has a reputation as an entertaining essayist and novelist, and I was looking forward to his take on alcoholism. What I wasn't prepared for was the quasi-autobiographical nature of his story: the protagonist/narrator is a Jonathan A., a bright and shiny popular young man who grows up to become a writer and experiences many of the same thing as the real Jonathan Ames. Personally, I've never cared for novels that blur the lines between author and character that much (for example the works of Paul Auster), and I really can't stand protagonists who share the name of the author. But that's just a personal thing.
What's somewhat more problematic is that the story's depiction of alcoholism fails to bring any new perspective to the disease. The narrator falls into the same patterns of self-destructive behavior as many alcoholics, and there's little to distinguish his sodden journey from any other. Even worse, he's a self-absorbed insecure idiot -- making even the brief time it takes to read the book feel like being stuck on a Greyhound bus for several hours next to an annoying rambling conversationalist who's not nearly as funny, interesting, or even tragic as he thinks he is. Of course, that's kind of the point, but it doesn't make it any more interesting to endure.
The book is somewhat livened up by a substantial dose of sex, drugs, and scatology (indeed, for someone so down on himself, the narrator seems to have little problem bedding a succession of tasty ladies). However, that can't really rescue it from its plodding pace, which advances the narrator from his teens into his 40s. Ames should be commended up to a point for not engineering some hokey "realization" or cure for his alter-ego, and for keeping things realistically bleak and ambiguous at the end. But then one has to wonder what the point of it all is, other than Ames' exploring a different medium. Dean Haspiels black and white artwork is nicely understated and documentarian in style, never getting too flashy or in the way of the story.
On the whole, I can't really imagine who I recommend this to, other than those who enjoy Ames fiction and essays. There's nothing really meaty to sink one's teeth into.
Comics & Graphic Novels Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Audiobooks on Cassette
- Audiobooks on CD
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- e-Books
- Engineering
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Medicine
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in The Sweet Taste Of Addiction
Bondage and Discipline, Sadism and Masochism: Zack's Odyssey Part 2by Lusipher
Davidbooks; Published: 2008-12-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
BONDAGE AND DISCIPLINE, SADISM AND MASOCHISM: Zack's Odyssey Part 1by Lusipher
Davidbooks; Published: 2008-12-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
Gladiator: A True Story of 'Roids, Rage, and Redemptionby Dan Clark
Scribner; Published: 2009-02-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $12.49
Price in other shops:
Trees LoungeLions Gate; Release date: 2002-03-26; DVD
Best price: $7.42
Price in other shops:
BarflyRelease date: 2002-09-03; DVD
Best price: $244.88
FactotumWELLSPRING/GENIUS; Release date: 2006-12-26; DVD
Best price: $7.51
Price in other shops:
Go Ask Aliceby Anonymous
Simon Pulse; Published: 2005-12-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.92
Price in other shops:
Beauty Queenby Linda Glovach
HarperTeen; Published: 1998-10-31; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.98
Price in other shops:
The Alcoholicby Jonathan Ames
Vertigo; Published: 2008-09-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.14
Price in other shops:
Prozac NationRICCI,CHRISTINA; Release date: 2005-07-05; DVD
Best price: $19.97
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Localby Brian Wood
Oni Press; Published: 2008-09-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $18.74
Price in other shops:
The Graveyard Bookby Neil Gaiman
HarperCollins; Published: 2008-10-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
2666: A Novelby Roberto Bolano
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; Published: 2008-11-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.29
Price in other shops:
What's Not to Love?: The Adventures of a Mildly Perverted Young Writerby Jonathan Ames
Vintage; Published: 2001-08-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.60
Price in other shops:
The Umbrella Academy Volume 1 (v. 1)by Gerard Way
Dark Horse; Published: 2008-07-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Vintage)by Stieg Larsson
Vintage; Published: 2009-06-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.80
Price in other shops:
Bottomless Belly Buttonby Dash Shaw
Fantagraphics Books; Published: 2008-06-04; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.05
Price in other shops:
Too Cool To Be Forgottenby Alex Robinson
Top Shelf Productions; Published: 2008-07-29; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $8.85
Price in other shops:
Watchmenby Alan Moore
DC Comics; Published: 1995-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
The Jokerby Brian Azzarello
DC Comics; Published: 2008-11-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.00
Price in other shops: