Bluffton: My Summer with Buster Keaton

Sitting down to read this at the close of summer, with a cold Michigan wind blowing color into the leaves outside, I feel a certain kinship with Henry Harrison, the young protagonist of this graphic novel, who spends much of the year waiting for summer to come 'round again so that he might renew his friendship with the equally young Buster Keaton in Bluffton, a little lakeside village just outside of Muskegon, Michigan.

There is not a sentence in this entire book that is as long as that one I just wrote -- for Phelan, simplicity and nostalgia are the orders of the day. The pale watercolor paintings blurring neatly inside each panel evoke faded summer days unreachable in our modern era; the washed colors occasionally splash out to vivid show more brightness when depicting a Lake Michigan sunset or a vaudeville performance -- those brighter images perfectly pique the reader's memories of childhood. Nostalgia, of course, rests squarely in the realm of adult emotions, so there is some question whether the target audience -- presumably young readers -- would take as much pleasure in the simplicity of the text and pictures, but I like to think that they might. Or, perhaps they aren't the target audience after all.

The plot, or rather the plottish structure (as not a whole lot happens, so to speak), loosely covers a handful of summers -- and the blurred stretch of days between -- wherein the Keaton family visited Bluffton. Their presence in the town in the early part of the 20th century is an historical fact, as are the aspects of Buster Keaton's personality and career that Phelan has lovingly researched. The other characters in the book are fictional, even our relatable Everyboy protagonist, whose longings for a stage career open up the relationships that young Buster may have had, could have had, might have wanted in his summer vacations. We need Henry, though, and Phelan does an admirable job of positioning him in contrast to Keaton's strangeness so that we understand both the charm and the challenges of Buster Keaton's early life.

This is by no means a complete biography. The novel drifts off after a few summers and, with a hastily concluded epilogue and an author's note, offers only the briefest of nods toward the details of Keaton's adulthood, but what is here clearly respects and honors the great showman's memory. Phelan is a fan; by the end of this book, you probably will be one too. And then, perhaps, you might like to watch a movie. show less

I read Bluffton first because it featured a circus and I am all about that circus lifestyle. Firstly, when I grabbed this book I somehow missed the subtitle and therefore was shocked to discover that one of the main characters in this book is that famous star of vaudeville, Buster Keaton. Secondly, I went into this book expecting a rollicking good time and instead got a somewhat borderline depressing narrative of what the childhood of Buster would have entailed since he was a performer from infancy. It's about the expectations that a parent has for their child and how those might be vastly different from the aspirations that the child holds for themselves. It's also about the nature of friendship and jealousy (especially when one of the show more friends is an itinerant performer). It's a coming of age tale that paints a rather grim picture of child stardom and how the experiences of our youth shape us into the adults that we will one day become. show less

Henry Harrison is a regular kid growing up in a quiet town in 1900s Michigan. But things start to get a lot more interesting when a vaudeville group decides to take their summer vacation in nearby Bluffton. Henry can't wait to head over to Bluffton each day and spend time with Lex and Buster, two kids his own age. Lex is "just" the child of entertainers, but Buster is a vaudeville star in his own right. Henry is divided between being star struck and just hanging out with Buster and Lex being kids - playing pranks, going fishing, riding bikes, etc.

Bluffton: My Summers with Buster Keaton is a graphic novel aimed at kids but that has a nostalgic feel that appeals more to adults. In fact, although I think this quiet novel is great in many show more respects, it seems to far better suited to the attention spans and emotions of adults. While the language is somewhat simplistic (not necessarily a bad thing even for adults!), Phelan really makes fantastic use of the graphic format to show rather than to tell. In terms of writing style, pacing, and illustrative style, this book reminds me a bit of Stitches by David Small but obviously with a completely different story. That slower pacing and far from didactic writing style certainly appeals to me (and I think could be of interest to other adults), but I don't see that as something being readily loved by a younger audience. It was refreshing how little Phelan felt the need to beat a dead horse by explaining, explaining, explaining with repetitive words - instead he used a panel or two of illustration to precisely portray the feelings of Henry and his peers. But it does definitely give the book a less energetic feel than most children's books I've read.

Further, some of the themes and events in this book seemed to me more interesting and relevant to adults. As noted above, there's definitely a nostalgic feel to this book of bygone carefree summer days that I think works on entirely different level for adults than for children. The attraction/jealousy angle between Henry and his neighbor Sally/Buster and Sally is something that I think a lot of younger readers might just gloss over and/or not understand, whereas it had an almost humorous - in addition to a "d'aww" - feel for adults. While Phelan does give a brief description of vaudeville in the beginning of the book, I'm not sure that younger kids will really get the significance of it (i.e., there weren't the many other forms of entertainment available today) let alone recognize Buster Keaton as the star that he was.

On a more personal level, this book suffered a little bit with me from the expectations problem. For some reason (not a fault of the publishers at all), I had it in my head that the book would be more about Buster Keaton's childhood. Phelan does include accurate facts about Buster Keaton, his family, and their summers in Bluffton, but this material is more like background to his actual story about Henry. He does a fine job of mixing fact and fiction and even provides a note at the end to clarify the historical parts, but I still was a little disappointed not to learn more about the legendary actor. Nevertheless, the story about Henry growing up is charming, and I greatly appreciated the advice given to him by his father on looking ahead to his future: "Don't worry so much about what you are going to do, Henry. Concentrate on who you are going to be." What wisdom to impart to the young readers (and remind the older ones of, too!). If you go into the story expecting it to be mostly about Henry and less about Buster, you are likely to enjoy this book even more than I did.

Because I got an advanced copy (that I clearly didn't get to right away ... oops), my book had black and white illustrations in the place of the final colored illustrations. A fold-out extra showed what some of the pages looked like in color. While I'm sure that reading this book in full color would enhance the experience, I actually found the black and white illustrations interesting enough to draw and hold my attention. As I mentioned earlier, I loved how Phelan was sparse with his words and focused on telling so much of the story through the illustrations. In just a panel or two, he could move the story forward or portray a character's inner thoughts. What a magnificent skill.

Overall, I'm glad that I read this book for its sweet and largely uplifting tale, and it is brief enough to be an afternoon read if you set aside an hour or two for it. But I also don't see this book as one that will have a lasting impact on my consciousness. I have reservations about it being of interest to young children but if they do find the pacing and style to their liking, it does impart some important lessons (about friendship, finding your talent, being yourself and not someone else instead, and not ignoring those important people right in front of us) and does so in a subtle, elegant way. show less

In the early 1900s, summers are quiet in Muskegon, Michigan -- until the year a troupe of vaudeville performers come to spend a summer by the lake. Henry, a boy from Muskegon, quickly befriends Buster Keaton, a child star right around his own age. The boys bond over baseball, fishing, and just goofing off, and Henry soon finds himself envying Buster's glamorous life on stage. Will Henry be stuck in Muskegon forever?

This graphic novel is a treat to read -- Phelan's illustrations are lovely, and the text works with the images to convey Henry's longing for the big time . . . as well as certain things Buster might long for, but never expresses to his friend. I also admire how Phelan shifts near the end of the book from focusing on what show more happens during the summer and sliding through the winter with a series of wordless frames, to focusing on what happens in the winter, as Henry starts to see the potential in his own life. I enjoyed this book very much, though I'm not sure how much kid appeal it has -- quiet, thoughtful graphic novels don't leap off the shelf at my library, but I'm hoping it finds other readers who, like me, will appreciate its many fine qualities. show less

In the summer of 1908, in Muskegon, Michigan, a visiting troupe of vaudeville performers is about the most exciting thing since baseball. They’re summering in nearby Bluffton, so Henry has a few months to ogle the elephant and the zebra, the tightrope walkers and — lo and behold — a slapstick actor his own age named Buster Keaton. The show folk say Buster is indestructible; his father throws him around as part of the act and the audience roars, while Buster never cracks a smile. Henry longs to learn to take a fall like Buster, "the human mop," but Buster just wants to play ball with Henry and his friends. With signature nostalgia, Scott O’Dell Award–winning graphic novelist Matt Phelan visualizes a bygone era with lustrous show more color, dynamic lines, and flawless dramatic pacing. show less

A slice of Americana, served up with an ice-cold lemonade. Fictionalized memoir of summers spent with Buster Keaton, long before he became a household name, but as a tremendous talent on the vaudeville scene with his family. They would spend summer in the sleepy lakeside community of Bluffton, Michigan. Phelan's graphic novel - told through the eyes of dreamy-eyed local boy Henry Harrison - positively sings with longing, with excitement, with sweetness, with foibles and falls.

Henry is the son of a hardware store owner in Muskegon, Michigan when he meets the young Buster Keaton and other vaudeville actors on vacation in the area. Henry is curious about vaudeville and Buster's performance tricks, but Buster is interested in baseball, swimming, and pranks. Author Matt Phelan gently explores two different, yet overlapping, childhoods. One is that of small town resident Henry, the other is that of worldly Buster Keaton. Children's rights and the Gerry Society approached, but are not the primary focus of the book. Sadly, I expect this book will be more popular with librarians and teachers than the children it was primarily written for.