Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel

Cruddy: An Illustrated Novel
by Lynda Barry

Simon & Schuster, $23 hard

Dear Lynda,

Thanks for sending your book Cruddy. I still haven't figured out what to think of it yet, but I certainly can't get it off my mind. Naturally, I'm a fan of your comic endeavors -- you've been a favorite for many years -- so I was pretty excited to hear that you were writing a novel. You are so funny, I was sure this book would be a laugh a minute. So I wanted to talk to you about it.

I love that you start the book with your main character, Roberta's, suicide note. I love it when Roberta's father tells her to expect the unexpected -- and whenever possible, be the unexpected. That seems to be the theme all through the book, and sounds like it may be a personal credo of your own, too. I wouldn't be surprised if, like so many creators, you made Roberta a lot like yourself. You do seem to know her so well and you paint all her nuances in such excruciating detail that I thought I knew her myself. Maybe even was her myself!

It was so weird, Lynda, 'cuz Roberta and I are almost exactly the same age. She reminds me a lot of myself, in some ways, and it's not always a flattering picture, but then the early Seventies weren't always kind. But, man, what gets me most are the bad situations and weird kinds of trouble she gets into. Some of it is so close to home, it's scary. But some of it is so extreme, I'd stop and think, "Wait a minute!"

But, OK. We have to talk about the plot. Lynda, I don't know what was going on with you personally when you wrote this, or how much of this was a reflection of your own childhood, but what a trip. There's all this weirdness going on, but you're, like, so blasé about everything, spinning out your tale with its exquisite and gruesome facets like you were a channeler, or some demented Harper Lee. It really is a scream the way you tell it, but this whole awful massacre thing, and then the weird murder and the harrowing drunken trip with Roberta's father -- wow! And the 127 hits of acid she took? You blew me away. Sometimes I wasn't sure if something was supposed to be funny or not, but I laughed a lot. But I also feel like I got run over by a bus.

That's pretty much all I wanted to say, except that in the nicest way possible, I think your best stories are still in front of you. Thanks for listening, and thanks again for the book. I'll never forget it. Your friend,