Fantagraphic's bestselling book ever with over 100,000 copies in print, Ghost World is a Catcher in the Rye for its generation and the basis for the Academy Award-nominated film. It tells the story of Enid and Rebecca, two above-it-all teenaged best friends confronted with the prospect of adulthood and the uncertain future of their friendship.
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Dan Clowes described the story in Ghost World as the examination of "the lives of two recent high school graduates from the advantaged perch of a constant and (mostly) undetectable eavesdropper, with the shaky detachment of a scientist who has grown fond of the prize microbes in his petri dish." From this perch comes a revelation about adolescence that is both subtle and coolly beautiful. Critics have pointed out Clowes's cynicism and vicious social commentary, but if you concentrate on those aspects, you'll miss the exquisite whole that Clowes has captured. Each chapter ends with melancholia that builds towards the amazing, detached, ghostlike ending.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From School Library Journal
YA?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
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
By Book Cupid
Format:Paperback
Enid and Becky are done with high school. This should be the time of their lives when they party and travel to the beach. But instead, they continue to hang out at the coffee shop and music stores, or just relax by the television having normal pointless talks. You can tell from the very start that these two are best friends.
The problem: Enid doesn't listen to anything Becky says, constantly monopolizing the conversations. Treating Becky as if she were dumb and keeping mum on her plans after high school. Why would she do that? The answer is in the book.
And that is a good enough reason to read this book. It's honest. Not all friendships are good for you, and it doesn't mean that because a person is extroverted that they are able to show their true emotions.
Daniel Clowes also worked on the screenplay for the 2001 Ghostworld movie, and was nominated for an Award for best adapted screenplay.
The problem: Enid doesn't listen to anything Becky says, constantly monopolizing the conversations. Treating Becky as if she were dumb and keeping mum on her plans after high school. Why would she do that? The answer is in the book.
And that is a good enough reason to read this book. It's honest. Not all friendships are good for you, and it doesn't mean that because a person is extroverted that they are able to show their true emotions.
Daniel Clowes also worked on the screenplay for the 2001 Ghostworld movie, and was nominated for an Award for best adapted screenplay.
Format:Paperback
Awesome. This was completely easy to read. Images were well drawn, but more importantly the conversations were so believable. I laughed out loud on the bus - slightly embarrassing. And the swearing emphasizes teenager disregard for time and space. Really worth owning.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Mitch Jones
Format:Paperback
This is the first graphic novel that actually made me feel sympathy for some of the characters - made me care about them and their experiences. There's a point in the story that the girls go to a strangeish retro diner that has a hippie for an employee. One of them seems to realize something about this happy-happy seeming middle-aged man and spends some time leaving a large tip. It then flashes to a couple panels that depicts this man - no longer smiling and all - cleaning up and collecting the tip then depositing coins into a machine. I must've read those 1 or 2 pages a dozen times. I can't quite put it into meaning the reason I stuck to those pages but it really meant something to me. I guess the author just fleshes out the characters to such an extent that you just have to care about them. There are many other notable scenes too. Ghost World is simply a brilliant book about people and their "real" lives as opposed to the ones other people think they lead. Don't listen to the haters because this graphic novel changed my opinion about comics once and for all after reading an umpteenth amount of pulpy Batman ishes. They really can have heart and meaning about them and that's the important thing. Get it.
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4.2 out of 5 stars
Most recent customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Daunting
This graphic novel relates the wanderings of Enid and Rebecca, who have just finished high school and are ambivalent about everything, whether it is about their future, their... Read more
Published on May 13 2011 by S. Lavigne
4.0 out of 5 stars
Didn't like the movie...
I didn't like the Ghost world movie, but the graphic novel was a lot better. There were a couple of times I got confused with people (heh, maybe it's just me) but it was funny and... Read more
Published on Jun 13 2004
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brillinat writing, Brilliant art
Daniel Clowes', 'Ghost World,' is a shining example on how effective the medium of the graphic novel can be when coupled with fantastic, highly literate writing. Read more
Published on April 24 2004 by Sibelius
4.0 out of 5 stars
struggle to find who you are
I saw the movie upon recommendation from my ex-girlfriend (as if that matters), and that's the way I found this gem out, as so many others have. Read more
Published on Mar 8 2004 by ohmysohopeless
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surprised
Had never read what after looking through a few of the reviews here I now know is called a "graphic novel. Read more
Published on Oct 15 2003
5.0 out of 5 stars
I knew people like this in High School...
I saw the movie because of an interview of Daniel Clowes I heard on NPR. Then I bought the book because the movie was so good, and everyone knows the book is always better than... Read more
Published on Sep 19 2003 by Nels Lindberg
4.0 out of 5 stars
For anyone who has seen the movie before the book......
I would say that the story is a little different from what you saw on the big screen. The movie twisted a few of the plot points around, changing the character's interactions, but... Read more
Published on July 18 2003 by Alicia
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book and David Boring . . .
had a lot to do with convincing me that a graphic novel could really achieve the depth and complexity of a genuine work of art. Read more
Published on Jun 29 2003 by Gulley Jimson
1.0 out of 5 stars
Terrible
Yet another angsty novel about high school outcasts. The material is tedious at best.
Published on Dec 17 2002
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Watch the Movie!
But if you did, rest assure that the book doesn't [disappoint]. I read this book when I was Enid and Becky's age, and I tell you, though it's a comic book, it was and still is the... Read more
Published on Aug 4 2002
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