School Library Journal Review
Adult/HS-Cartoonist Griffith, creator of the Zippy newspaper strip, pores over his mother's correspondence and her unpublished novel in order to reconcile the reality of her extramarital affair with his image of her as a parent. While never explicit, the mature content may give some readers pause. A thoughtful exploration of the mystery of parents as actual people. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
This autobiographical story by the creator of Zippy the Pinhead will ring true to anyone who has ever watched their parents' marital misery around the dinner table and wondered what was really going on. When Griffith's father returns from war and finds himself demoted due to military cost-cutting measures, his authority-and, by association, his masculinity-is diminished, leaving him unemployed and leading him to become a tyrant at home. That behavior intensifies when his wife steps up and applies for work as secretary to the prolific cartoonist and pulp fiction writer Lawrence Lariar, a position that blossoms into a years-long affair. Weaving a tapestry of family dysfunction and clandestine liaisons set against the backdrop of the 1950s and '60s, Griffith's journey of discovery and uncovering of long-buried truths depicts the deterioration of his parents' relationship, and his mother's problematic discovery of sexual fulfillment in an extramarital affair. Discovering all this only later in life, Griffith comes to know and understand his close-mouthed parents in ways that he never could have while they were still alive, and his archaeology of his family's past is an evocative portrait of postwar America. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* The creator of the culturally nostalgic comic strip Zippy here reveals a personal claim to his affinity for pop culture of the past. His mother's grandfather (and his namesake) was enterprising Old West photographer William Henry Jackson. Further, while his father was a disgruntled career soldier, his mother wrote for romance pulps and had a 16-year affair with cartoonist, cartoon anthologist, and mystery writer Lawrence Lariar, a reasonably big name in his day. A cache of stuff in the possession of Griffith's uncle Al, his mother's 90-year-old half brother, sets Griffith off on an in-depth quest of his family's history, with his mother's affair with Lariar at the heart of it. His intricate drawing style, which exploits a range of backdrops, from blank to near-photo-realistic depictions of architecture, complements the richness of his verbal narration and the veracity and particularity of the dialogue he creates for the many relatives and family friends he portrays, notably including his wife, fellow first-wave underground cartoonist Diane Noomin (Wimmen's Comix), who wrote her own words herein. Though far from as fanciful as Kim Deitch's marginally autobiographical explorations of the pop-cultural past (Alias the Cat!, 2007, and The Search for Smilin' Ed, 2010), Griffith's formally similar book is every bit as absorbing and moving.--Olson, Ray Copyright 2015 Booklist
Library Journal Review
At her husband's deathbed 43 years ago, Griffin's mother confessed to her children that she'd had a loving 16-year affair with another man. But it took several decades and a batch of family memorabilia from Uncle Al to set the cartoonist on a quest to uncover the whole story. Known for his Zippy the Pinhead absurdist newspaper strip, Griffith acquits himself wonderfully with his first full-length story. Combining details from his mother's diary and unpublished novel, massive research in digital and print archives, and novels written by her cartoonist lover, Lawrence Lariar, the author assembles a fascinating mosaic about a real-life melodrama that was, unfortunately, a sad commentary on past social expectations uncomplicated by any available information or counseling about mating and marriage. His realistic black-and-white inks show skill at detailed hatch work evoking R. Crumb's style while including humorous drawings in the mode of Lariar. VERDICT Before the 1960s ripened, before liberalized divorce, people still fell in love out of turn-and improvised. This bittersweet period piece will prove fascinating to those intrigued by social history and perhaps interested in uncovering their own family affairs.-M.C. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.