The Greatest of Marlys

by Lynda Barry

Sasquatch Books, 224 pp., $15.95 (paper)

She has bumps of a mysterious nature all over her body and her joints seem to be made of a bizarre, elastic-like material. She thinks gasoline has a “gorgeous” smell and she uses lard to shine her shoes. Dag, that Marlys is the greatest! She thinks the best solution for getting a boring person out of her house is to open a jar of old fish heads under his chair. One time, her mom found Jesus and subsequently moved the entire family to a trailer park. This lovable young lady (who regularly appears on the Chronicle‘s Comics page) may seem like a loon, but she doesn’t think that of you. Marlys is always offering useful advice on a variety of intriguing topics: becoming very popular, how to groove on life, what to do with mud, and how to play beach bingo. She’s the most approachable know-it-all you’ll ever meet.

This article appears in October 6 • 2000.

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