A graphic novel-or memoir?- as with Jonathan Ames other work, it's a bit hard to tell. If you've enjoyed Bored to Death on HBO, this would probably be up your alley. Haspiel's comic stylings do a good job.

The ground covered here will be familiar to anyone who's read Jonathan Ames's non-graphic work, but this book can serve as a great introduction to his distinctive style. He's somehow shamelessly debauched and completely ingenuous at the same time.

I'm a fan of Jonathan Ames's work, but am rather at sea when it comes to graphic novels. Ames is a first-rate wit, but his strengths lie in the visual pictures that he is able to create through language. When some of his more outrageous descriptions become incarnate (incartoonate?), the artist's point-of-view interferes rather than enhances my experience of the story. I don't want Ames to be in the least bit concerned with political correctness, but I found the treatment of some characters really offensive. (Let me reiterate: I'm not talking here about being offended by the politically incorrect; I'm just calling attention to what seems to me to be an incompletely realized collaboration between the written and the drawn.) ( )

The best thing about Jonathan Ames and Dean Haspiel’s graphic novel The Alcoholic is it engages you fast and reads quickly. This way, by the time you get to the truly disappointing ending you’ve only invested about an hour of your time.

I picked up The Alcoholic because I thought it was a graphic memoir. Having had such exquisite experiences with Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis and Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home, I was licking my chops in anticipation. Though I’d never read Ames’ work before I was familiar with him from This American Life.

The Alcoholic tells the story of a Jonathan A. and his love affair with booze and drugs. It starts out with Jonathan passed out in a station wagon with an amorous, drunken dwarf. Pretty awesome. From there Jonathan tells us how he landed in such a spot going back to his drinking days in high school and college, the tragic loss of his parents at an early age, therapy, 9/11, and some other stuff.

Before I get to bitching, I have to say that the scenes leading up to, during, and right after 9/11 are pretty awesome. It’s chilling and moving. As my eyes teared up reading the words and looking at the pictures, I wondered if there would ever be a time in my life where stories about 9/11 don’t make me cry.

Read the rest:
http://www.minnesotareads.com/2008/10... ( )

It was funny, a little sad and gives you a look at someone who can function as an alcoholic. Quick read, great artistry and hits on some touchy areas. ( )