[.ca] A Child's Life and Other Stories (ISBN 1583940286)

I LOVE this book!:
I can't say enough about this author/artist. I've just finished reading the book and am almost speechless. For anyone out there still dealing with demons of their own less than perfect childhoods, this book takes on the feel of a close friend in the same situation. The author, in a semi-autobiographical fashion, recounts a childhood of sexual abuse, drug abuse, and general coming-of-age well before it ever should. Full of amazing illustrations (Gloeckner is a lauded medical illustrator as well as excellent cartoonist), this book is sure to please anyone looking for something different, and in my case, cathartic. I don't think I could begin to recommend this book highly enough. I'm just glad that I live in a day and age where this book is not only allowed to be published, but can earn accolades as well (the least of which is from me). Thank you, Phoebe!

Graphic.:
Phoebe Louise Adams Gloeckner's graphic novel is a vehicle for traveling across some of the roughest terrain of childhood that has been recorded in a creative work. In A Child's Life, Gloeckner shows an awareness of the essential nature of the genre in which she works to unravel the stories collected here, and she also allows us to take a look another of her styles -- the more draftsman-like style of her medical drawings -- through a series of haunting "stills." The narratives that unfold through the comic genre are heartbreaking and full of catharsis, and the messages buried in some of the pieces without traditional "story" text are also disturbing, though certainly in a more sensory way. Like other memoirs of damaged children, this one is difficult to read at times -- espeically because there is an intense quality of immediacy that travels throughout the entire book. Still, it is moving and full of dark beauty, and one that continues to give fresh insights with each re-reading.

Graphic, harrowing, and touching--worth a try.:
This collection of Phoebe Gloeckner's comics is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it's worth a reading. If you haven't read her novel, Diary of a Teenage Girl, I think you will find this book a better introduction to her work. The themes are much the same and the comic art is very well done. The subject matter is pretty bleak.

Brutal and Beautiful:
A Child's Life is hard to read but even harder to turn your eyes away from. Her child-like drawings combined with adult events and content perfectly express the difficult adolescent limbo between girl and woman.

Beautiful, Disturbing, and Necessary:
"A Child's Life" by Phoebe Gloeckner is like witnessing a car wreck or a street fight: you are horrified and appalled, but you can't stop looking. This beautifully drawn book gives graphic insight to the devastating impact of psychological and sexual abuse on children and teens, but also portrays the importance of facing and overcoming bad early life experiences in order to have a productive adult life. In my lifetime, I have known too many people in their 30's, 40's and even 50's who suffered childhood/adolescent problems that seem minor compared to what "Minnie" endured, and who continue to use their past problems as an excuse for continuously messing up their lives throughout adulthood; "A Child's Life" should be mandatory reading for these folks. Without doubt, a childhood of abuse and neglect is horrible, but we do ourselves and our society a disservice when we rely on it to excuse our own bad behaviour and avoid growing up and moving on with our lives. Phoebe Gloeckner is a new kind of hero who survived a hell on earth and bravely lived to tell the tale in an intelligent and scorching manner. (N.B. This book should not be given to children or young teens; it would frighten them. Older teens, depending on their maturity level, would find this book compelling and cautionary.)