Already one of the most heavily-publicized graphic novels in history, this new edition (featuring new covers by Clowes) should make the book more popular than ever. With lengthy write-ups in Time, Newsweek, Publisher's Weekly, Details, Vogue, Jane, and many others, press interest in the book and film promises to be higher than ever this spring.

Most of the scenarios seen in the movie are in the book. The garage sale, the lame comedian, the "Satanists," the 50's diner with "Weird Al," the prank call leading to the fake date, the note on Josh's door, etc. Two of them involve different characters. Enid's visit to the adult shop has Josh as her unwilling escort, while the recipient of the fake date was an unnamed character. Seymour was the subsitute in the movie for both occasions.

The interactions between Enid and Rebecca are realistic and human, as the bored duo spend days looking for excitement. Towards the end, their friendship gets frayed, as both have different visions of where they want to be, and the differences between them become pronounced and explored. Rebecca wants to belong somewhere, but Enid isn't sure.

The humor here is more human and natural while being profane at times. Certain characters add to the laughs, such as the obnoxious John Ellis, a right-leaning WASP who endorses controversial views and people, such as a ex-priest into child porn. He might as well be a refined Eminem. He constantly taunts Enid whenever they meet. In one conversation, we learn poor Enid's last name--Coleslaw. Enid: "My Dad has his name changed legally!" To which Ellis replies, "From what... three-bean salad?" Now that's funny! Another bit: Enid: "Look how hot we are... How come no boys ask us out on dates?" In the next frame, she says "Maybe we should be lesbos!" to which Rebecca says "Get away from me!"

Josh may be awkward and shy, but he is, as Enid tells him, "the last decent person on Earth." Both want to go out with him, but he is put off by Enid's sarcasm and he isn't sure about Rebecca. When pressed on his political views, he says he endorses "policies opposed to stupidity and violence,... cruelty in any form, censorship..." That makes two of us.

I've wondered this since I saw the movie, but does the bus stop where Norman finally gets his bus and where Enid goes, symbolizes hope? There's no interaction with Norman in the book, but it's revealed that the bus line has been reopened, while there's no such information provided in the movie. The novel doesn't change the symbolism of the bus stop.

Compare the book to the movie, which is different in some ways, but still explores the themes of alienation and growing up; see how perfect Thora Birch and Scarlet Johansson were in playing Enid and Rebecca. Both are stunning. Truly a rare gem of a comic.


ghost world   January 9, 2002
 16 out of 20 found this review helpful

Ghost World is short, and I read it in an evening, but the images still resonate in my head. I was particularly touched by Clowes' style of drawing, and how he could evince complex emotions by just the look of a character's face. The world that high school best friends Enid and Becky inhabit seems bleak and empty, but I certainly remember those endless summer afternoons just wandering my hometown with my best friend, looking for ways to waste the time. This is probably my first experience with something that really captured the feel of a time I was growing up in---especially Enid's almost compulsive need to constantly reinvent her image as a way of finding her identity and feeling comfortable in her own skin. Especially in the early nineties, the small world I inhabited seemed rife with the need to be a strange individual and Ghost World certainly made me remember the alternative record store, the pretentious cafe, and my peers obsessing over the concepts of selling out and corporate America. It's sad the way Enid and Becky grow apart, and I think most people can relate to that, and it made me a bit nostalgic for the past. The end, in which Josh and Becky are together, and Enid is alone, leaving Ghost World, exemplifies the necessity of growing beyond some person or some thing---once considered so important to our daily lives---in order to become something more than what we were. And how the future is all at once so empty and limitless and blessedly unknown.


Solace for the Drunken Man   December 10, 2001
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I'd been up almost two days solid, drinking and shouting and carrying on. My eyes were red, my throat hurt and I was tired, tired so I ached in my bones (tired so my aura ached - the very air around me sensitive to pain, the very air around me hurting too). I just couldn't face the book I was reading on the train home. It wasn't the book's fault (I was reading "True Tales of American Life", edited by Paul Auster), I was loving the book, I just couldn't face the thought of words on a page. At the same time, however, I realised that if I didn't have something to occupy myself with I would start to analyse the various aches and pains and arrive at the conclusion that I needed to be ill, and I didn't want to be ill.

Which is where "Ghost World" comes in. Lots of people had told me they didn't like it. I know lots of people who have seen the film and loved it, loved it enough to seek out the graphic novel, only for the graphic novel to disappoint them. So I had various echoes of other people's opinions wobbling around my drunken head, but it didn't stop me: I just thought - serendipity: me and "Ghost World" were meant for each other at this particular time.

And I was right.

"Ghost World" is a great book. Not just a great graphic novel (because people use those words as if there is something bad about graphic novels: people hold up graphic novels the way that eighteenth century travellers held up tribal masks in their drawing rooms over tea - oh look, how marvellous, a graphic novel), a great book, a great piece of literature (if that makes you feel better). It made me laugh on a day when the very thought of laughter upset me like bad news. "Ghost World" is Harriet (the Spy) ten years on (and, as everybody - should - know, "Harriet the Spy" is one of the greatest books ever written, a monument to genius, and any book that can be whispered in the same breath is deserving of the highest praise).

What more can a tired man say but read "Ghost World" (or: read "Harriet the Spy" if you have already read "Ghost World", or read both "Ghost World" and "Harriet the Spy" if you've read neither; or: read "Ghost World" and "Harriet the Spy" if you've already read them both - you know that your life will be richer from another visit to either.)


Brillinat writing, Brilliant art   April 25, 2004
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

Daniel Clowes', 'Ghost World,' is a shining example on how effective the medium of the graphic novel can be when coupled with fantastic, highly literate writing. Clowes' brilliance is demonstrated with his remarkable ability in capturing dialogue and the psyches of his late-teenage female characters - Enid and Becky. In fact, their characterizations and conversations seems so authentic and natural that it's almost as if Clowes videotaped real-life snippets of actual teenagers lives and then fashioned comic strips out of them.

Unlike the movie adaptation, which had a sustained narrative, the graphic novel is comprised of episodic vignettes that seem more like a collection of short stories. These little tales are packed with so much melodrama, sharp-humour, keen observation and emotion that by the time you're finished with this 80 or so page book you'll feel like you've already digested volumes.

I can't recommend this book highly enough and whether or not you've seen the movie you definitely need to read the original source. Top quality stuff all the way through.


I like SIP better   January 11, 2005
 8 out of 25 found this review helpful

I picked this up at the library after watching the movie a couple of years ago. I remember liking it OK, so I decided to check this out. It is OK, but zI find enid and Rachel so mean that I can't identify with them: they seem to see the worst in everyone and spend their entire time hurting others. I had a hard time sypathizing with them. I also had a hard time getting into the drawing style; it seemed too.. distant, i suppose. I much prefer Strangers in Paradise, which has something of the same premise (the friendship between to young women), but I identify with Francine and KAtcxhoo more than Enid and Rachel. I would recognize why others might lkike this though.