Phoebe Gloeckner’s The Diary of a Teenage Girl is unique in both content and form. It is part memoir and part fiction, part comic book and part novel; this book defies description and it candy coats nothing. As the title suggests, The Diary of a Teenage Girl is a coming of age story about a teenage girl growing up in San Francisco in the 1970s, but the straightforward title purposefully oversimplifies this rich and thought-provoking story. A remarkable and brutally honest examination of the complexities of adolescence, the book has received rave reviews since its initial release in 2002. This new edition, coinciding with the recent release of the film adaptation starring Bel Powley, Alexander Skarsgard, and Kristin Wiig, includes a new forward from Gloeckner as well as personal photographs and original diary pages. Available at the John T. Richardson Library, Call Number: 813.54 G5628d2015.
Aptly dubbed the “First Couple of Comics,” R. Crumb and Aline Kominsky Crumb have been making pioneering, underground comics together since the 1970s. The Crumb’s mission statement has long been “the more personal, revealing and sniveling the more interesting,” and the artists again invite readers to “peek through the keyhole” and peer into their personal lives through their comics in Drawn Together. This collection chronicles the daily exploits and chaotic changes in the Crumb’s lives over the past five decades in typically raw, unapologetic, and at times grotesque Crumb fashion. Fans of underground comics will undoubtedly love this book, but it also serves as an excellent entry point for those new to the genre. Available at the John T. Richardson Library, Call Number: 741.5973 C9562D.
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tish folklore is whimsical, magical, enchanting, and above all, fun. The outstanding photographer Henry Bourne beautifully captures all of the characteristics in his new exploration of modern British folklore enthusiasts, Arcadia Britannica. The collection includes 125 brilliantly vivid portraits of individuals in stunning costumes inspired by British folklore. The accompanying text provides historical context and some explanation of the folktales that inspires these creations, but the photos alone are certainly worth checking out this book. Available at the John T. Richardson Library, Call Number: 779.2092 B7753a2015.