Subscribe to Read | $0.00
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!
Quick and Easy Sign Up!
It takes less then 1 minute to sign up, then you can enjoy Unlimited eBooks.
Read Anywhere and on Any Device!
Rate this book!
Write a review?
I started off disliking this, but I fell into it once the character of The Playwright got a bit more fleshed out. I think I’ll still take Wilson by Dan Clowes or Fante Bukowski by Noah Van Sciver if I’m looking for a comic about an unassuming creep, but there’s a certain misunderstood sweetness to The Playwright that develops over the course of the book that isn’t present in either of those other two titles. I can’t really get into the art work. I know it’s the dude who did From Hell, and I like...
Excellent piece of black humor, about a middle-aged man driven by social insecurity and sexual fantasies to become an award-winning playwright. It's very funny, very dark, very seductive. Strong art, good pacing, definitely recommended.
Deeply empathetic, and achingly honest. This book read like an Andre Dubus (long) short story, adapted into picture-book form. Not a traditional "graphic novel," by any stretch, but don't mistake its quiet mood and slow pace for "boring." This book delves deep into the heart of a peculiar and haunted man, and gives us as clear a view of his world and his fears and desires(without ever judging him, which is difficult) as we can hope for.
Reminiscent of large cartoon broadsheets featuring a caricature, this deceptively simple humorous narrative about a playwright becomes a sensitive fleshed portrait by the finish. It begins by poking fun at a man who makes his living at writing about humanity from the view of an observer only to regret his lack of actual substance to his life. Amusingly, it is only when he begins to live his own life that he finds he cannot write anymore.
Engaging graphic story about a socially repressed, woman-obsessed man who gets his story-telling ideas from the travails of his own life. Eddie Campbell's sketchy drawing style seems perfect for the narrative. I've never seen Campbell's work in color before, and I think the color enhances the effect of his on-the-mark artwork. The ending, while not a twist, was unexpected and followed naturally from everything that came before. Very good all around.
funny & witty
I enjoyed my read of this. I'm not as well versed in slice-of-life graphic novels, but this was an interesting portrayal of a celibate middle-aged man trying yet seemingly unable to find a woman he can share a life with.From the outside, the unnamed playwright appears to be highly successful. He is highly regarded professionally, lives a cultured life filled with good food and modest living, and displays his love of family by caring for his mentally handicapped brother. Despite all of this, he i...
I'm not normally a big fan of Eddie Campbell--his art often looks too scratchy/sketchy to my eye, and I often find myself wondering just what exactly it is that I'm supposed to be looking at. This, however, is a different kettle of fish. Perhaps the fact that it's in colour helps. The underlying designs still seem typically Campbellian, but the characters are all instantly recognizeable, and I was never in any doubt about what I was looking at. And there are some quite stunning and effective ima...
it was a hot afternoon, the power was off and I was abit "figety." Concluding that I had nothing better to do I decided to read a book, a comic book to be more specific. I retreaved Clumsy by Jeffrey Brown, now this book, clumsy, goodness even the title makes my teeth clench, this book, well let me ask you this, have you ever read a book so, (insert swear word, presumably starting with the letter "F") pointless that you've contemplated throwing it against your wall? I'm being silly, but I hope y...
3.5 stars. A socially/sexually stunted (and so socially/sexually obsessed) playwright has won all his awards for his explorations of isolation and melancholy, and now is trying to make sense of his perspective -and make a genuinely meaningful connection with another person- before he tips into his golden years. It's even shorter than it looks because of the unusual formatting: only 3 panels to a page, so the eye tracks across the pages horizontally in a stream-of-consciousness style. Campbell's
"The Playwright" is a pretty unique little book. Broken up into short slice-of-life chapters, it tells the story of an over-sexed, socially awkward playwright in the later stages of his career. It's a bittersweet story that touches on family relationships, the nature of success, and loneliness without delving into these issues in a linear way. Like I said, it's a unique way to present a graphic novel.Eddie Campbell's artwork, always a bit too sketchy for my taste, is enhanced by some lovely colo...
This isn't quite a "graphic novel" -- its more of a heavily illustrated short story, with a combination of words and pictures on every page. It's a stark character study of the titular playwright, as he comes to terms with his past and his place in the world. It reminded me a lot of Richard Yates -- nothing is romanticized or explained, the story is simply told, and the reader makes whatever meaning they can from the story. It's definitely an acquired taste, but Campbell and White have created a...
Boring, stodgy characters don't make for the most interesting of books, despite the author's attempts to interject some humor. This is a portrait of a sad, sad man and that gives us a sad, joyless book.
