Regarded as a founder of impressionism yet one of their most ardent critics, famous during his lifetime yet solitary in his habits, known as a painterRegarded as a founder of impressionism yet one of their most ardent critics, famous during his lifetime yet solitary in his habits, known as a painter, a sculptor, photographer, but also as quarrelsome, chauvanistic, anti-semetic, and cantankerous, Edgar Degas has left his name writ large in art history. Drawing from Degas’ many notebooks and a wealth of art biographies on the primary subjects, Degas & Cassatt A Solitary Dance is a fascinating and gorgeous graphic novel from Salva Rubio and artist Efa, translated from the French by Edward Gauvin. Following the life of Degas told through the reflections of Degas’ friend and fellow artist Mary Cassatt, it examines the many facets of his personality—found to be rather off-putting by those who knew him—and his artistic efforts in an attempt to understand his inner life and lifelong bachelorhood. Gorgeously illustrated, this is a wonderful graphic novel and an interesting look at the art movement during his time as well as heartfelt portraits of the artists around him that will appeal to both fans of Degas regardless of prior knowledge about him or anyone with an interest in art history.
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Degas is often best remembered for his paintings of ballerinas
First, a big thank you to Edelweiss and NBM Publishing for a review copy in exchange for an honest review. This book goes on sale 24 March, 2024.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel and found the choice to present the story in visual format to really enhance the telling. The art is quite lovely and is designed to reflect Degas’ own style and chalk pastel medium that tells his story as if through his own form of expression. It fictionalizes his spark of creativity in painting ballerinas and his theories of artistic output that lets us understand Degas through Degas. We also learn a great deal about those with whom he associated, such as Édouard Manet who is a recurring presence in the book and is often used to detail Degas’ rejection of the Salons through their arguments. His belief in toppling the art world and creating a new one for artists to create and be regarded without needing the approval of the Salon is a major focus here, as is his involvement in the Impressionist Exhibitions between 1874 and 1886. The book frames Degas as a highly influential creator of the movement despite his disdain for bohemians, painting outdoors, academics, and pretty much anyone who isn’t himself (he is also highly critical of Cassatt despite also encouraging her and respecting her) and explores how they launched him into fame.
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The Little Fourteen-Year-Old Dancer sculpture from 1881
What I appreciated most was how Degas shares this story with that of Mary Cassatt and we see how their relationship influenced, comforted, yet also often frustrated them both. It portrays Cassatt and other women’s struggles in an art world dominated by men and how patriarchal gatekeeping was just as oppressive as Degas saw the gatekeeping of the Salon. Despite the belittling fro Degas, it was lovely to read this as a success story for Cassatt. ‘I’d found my place in a world of men,’ she says, ‘and made my voice as a woman heard. And that was good.’
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Portrait of Cassatt by Degas (left) and Casatt’s self-portrait (right)
This framing also makes much of the book an exploration into the mysteries around Degas’ sexuality and leaves us with questions if he ever achieved inner peace, which Rubio poses along with quotes from Degas own letters to kickstart our thinking. The graphic novel takes the stance that Degas’ disinterest in women was part of his desire to make painting his entire life, something that is advised of him at a young age by French painter Jean Auguste Dominique Ingresin the opening of the book:
‘Devote yourself body and soul to painting. Live for painting! Make it your mistress, your bride, and your wife.’
We see how Degas rejects Manet’s constant affairs with women and believes it to be rotting his ability as an artist, though this belief still does not justify his misogyny in general. It did remind me, too, of something I recently read in Annie Jeng’s wonderful recent review of the book You Must Change Your Life: The Story of Rainer Maria Rilke and Auguste Rodin about Rodin telling Rilke he must change his entire life and bend it towards art to be successful.
I really enjoyed this book and learned quite a lot. It is well paced and beautiful to look at, and while some of the frames can get very wordy at times it never really bogs it down. Degas is a complicated individual and this goes well to show why he was so well regarded despite his many flaws and the frustrations of those who knew him and I enjoyed learning so much about Cassett as well. A must have for art lovers!
Wash your hands, friends. Truly that is the moral of this story of presidential assassinations, sex cults, steamship explosions, medicine and AlexanderWash your hands, friends. Truly that is the moral of this story of presidential assassinations, sex cults, steamship explosions, medicine and Alexander Graham Bell. Destiny of the Republic from historian Candice Miller is a riveting read that has so much going on in it (except for medical hygiene), threading multiple historical figures and narratives to tell the tale of lesser known President Garfield’s rather heartwarming rise to office and his very brief time there. Miller crafts a rather cinematic read out of what is surely an impressive scope of research which makes this quite engaging, though at times the rather ambitious structure feels like the aim for a novel-like narrative steamrolls over the smaller details. I appreciate the effort to make this rather brisk and brief as far as historical non-fiction goes, though there were many times I wished it would have lingered a bit more over certain aspects. Still, this is quite fascinating and this is coming from someone that tends to not have much interest in non-fiction and especially not about American presidents but I found this to be a rather enjoyable, informative and fascinating read.
‘If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should not grow old.’ -James Garfield
This book first and foremost made me really like Garfield. He has so many great quotes—beyond ‘I hate mondays’—and Miller creates a really flattering historical portrait of him. I loved the story of him showing up to the Convention intending to cast a vote and leaving as candidate, with people cheering him on and Chester Arthur having a little anxiety cry over concerns of possibly having to be president. Garfield just comes across as a genuinely decent person committed to his country, against slavery, and apparently a real chatterbox. Miller juxtaposes him with a lot of villainous characters, particularly the framing of Dr. Bliss as being the real cause-of-death from not just leaving Garfield alone and constantly poking around inside him without following basic cleanliness as laid out by Joseph Lister (and looking on the wrong side of the body) and Garfieldn’s assassin, Charles Guiteau.
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Engraving of Garfield having been shot by Guiteau from Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, 1881
Guiteau’s story is fascinating, from being unwanted in a sex cult and nicknamed Charles “Guit-out” (this same sex cult is best known for creating the silverware brand Oneida) to shooting a president over concerns he would end the spoil system and that he deserved consulship. Guiteau had come to believe he had been instrumental in Garfield's rise to power and was ordered by God to carry out the killing. A detail that really stuck with me was his imprisonment and his belief the guards were there to protect him and on his side, only to discover they were there to ensure nobody else killed him after one guard took a shot at him (and was sentenced to 8 years in prison for it). The Bell narrative, however, while fascinating for his attempts to create a device to detect the bullet in Garfield, sort of kills the momentum and often feels inflated at the expense of other aspects that I’d rather have gone into with greater detail.
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1881 political cartoon of Guiteau holding a gun and a sign reading "an office or your life."
A fun bookclub read and a fascinating look at history, Destiny of the Republic is a great little non-fiction on a period I knew next to nothing about. Its not something I would normally pick up, which is something I really appreciate about belonging to a bookclub and finding new reads that I end up enjoying. I enjoyed that it was quick and read much like a novel, though sometimes it felt a bit overambitious and might have been better (and I can't believe this is something I'd ever say) if it was longer and a bit more dry. I definitely have spent time looking up a lot of the events that were covered though. For a fun, fascinating and engaging historical read, Destiny of the Republic is a worthwhile choice. Also, wash your hands.
‘I will always conjure the mystical and the mysterious to express what I feel.‘
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The life, lies, longings and love affairs of Anaïs Nin come ‘I will always conjure the mystical and the mysterious to express what I feel.‘
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The life, lies, longings and love affairs of Anaïs Nin come pouring from the page in breathtaking artwork in Léonie Bischoff’s biographical graphic novel Anaïs Nin: A Sea of Lies. Drawing from her diaries, Bischoff chronicles key moments from the early 1930s in the artistic awakening of the writer who would shock and captivate the literary world with her bold, erotic works and honest depictions of her interior life. Through colorful artwork that adapts to further portray the way Nin felt she was composed of many different women all at once, Bischoff threads the events into an emotionally charged journey of self-discovery, desires, problematic affairs and more in an engaging union of biography and highly expressive visual arts.
‘For beauty. For love. For creation. I will never write like a man. I will write like a woman. I will express the inexpressible. Intuitions. Quivering. I will make of my life a masterpiece and invent a language to tell it. I will believe in my magic.’
First of all, shoutout to libraries. I have a regular patron who has been researching Anaïs Nin and we got to chatting about her book Henry and June because of the film of the same name while I was sifting through our statewide loan program to track down the entirety of Nin’s published works. Imagine my excitement to discover this existed and I practically shouted across the library “I found the coolest thing for you!” when the patron came in the next day. So of course I had to read it to, despite not really having much prior knowledge of Nin beyond knowing her erotica fame and that she had numerous affairs such as with Henry Miller and psychoanalyst Otto Rank. I’m glad I did, even if just for the art which is absolutely gorgeous:
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Each page is dazzling, done in what appears to be colored pencil, capturing a lot of expressions in the more basic frames of line-art face designs and also overwhelming you with beauty in the more detailed frames that seem to be bursting with color and life. Okay though, nobody would say Henry Miller was a great beauty or anything but Bischoff totally does him dirty and I think that is hilarious. Anyways. The narrative often dips into surrealism, which is in keeping with Nin’s own fiction, and the art reaches to match. It is delightful:
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Nin is a complex figure, and one should be aware that this graphic novel does get into a lot of sexuality, manipulation and includes the incestuous affair Nin had with her own father (there are prominent visual nods to the surrealist imagery in her novel House of Incest, which is primarily about Henry and June but does contain veiled allusions to her father). We watch Nin go from a rather reserved sexuality—feeling restricted by her husband’s career in banking instead of art—to embracing her sexual desires and harnessing her affairs for artistic purposes. Most notable is her relationship with Miller, which begins over the pair working on each other’s writing following Nin’s work on D. H. Lawrence: An Unprofessional Study.
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Henry, Anaïs, and June
‘I am a mirror for the desires of men,’ Nin considers, ‘and the roles that I play for them ignite the fires of their creativity.’ As her desires fuel her works, she finds it also inspires her lovers, though her financial support of Miller and desires for his wife do cause some emotional turmoil. As she begins to seek sexual inspiration with many around her, she increasingly finds herself as multiple people living in one being and navigating a ‘sea of lies.’ According to Nin’s biographer, Deidre Bair, Nin once said ‘I tell so many lies I have to write them down and keep them in the lie box so I can keep them straight.’ The key here, which we see all throughout the graphic novel, is that writing was, for her, a way to expand life, to live multiple lives, to live life more deeply in the linguistic investigations into events. Nin finds that men feel threatened by her writing, snapping once at Miller ‘You don’t understand that there can be other truths. Every man who reads my writing tries to “fix” it.’ For better or for worse, this graphic novel centers her journey to embrace her voice and her truth, not for others but for herself.
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This was an interesting read, and often rather uncomfortable, especially not having much knowledge on Nin’s life prior to the reading. While I’m sure much is embellished or distorted to fit—its like a biopic where its still kind of fiction even if it isn’t?—Bischoff blends it all into a forward progressing story that pulls a lot of emotion and introspection along with it. This is a scandalous story, but it is so wonderfully told and presented in outstanding artwork.
Octavia Butler is a writer to be celebrated not only in the realm of science fiction but literature at large. From growing up an only child in a de faOctavia Butler is a writer to be celebrated not only in the realm of science fiction but literature at large. From growing up an only child in a de facto racially segregated Pasadena, California, being raised by a working-class, single mother after her father died when Octavia was 7, to a celebrated and highly decorated novelist, Ibi Zoboi chronicles the life and acheivements of this fantastic author in Star Child. Winner of the Coretta Scott King Award, Star Child is a hybrid biography composed with biographical vignettes and poetry to deliver a multifaceted portrait of the author, exploring her impressive and pioneering literary journey as a Black woman working in a field almost exclusively made up of white men. While the book is aimed at younger readers, it is just as engaging and informative for any age—a sure mark of excellence—and the use of photos from Butler’s archives such as old letters of encouragement to herself with Zoboi’s lovely poetry makes this an essential read for any Butler fan as well as an excellent introduction to an author that will certainly claim your heart.
‘A psychologist-- She excavated our minds dug into out collective thoughts to know what truly makes us all
human’
‘readers of all ages should know that Octavia Estelle Butler was once a little Black girl growing up during the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race Her stories merge history, anthropology, sociology, biology, and technology. The biographical speculative poems in Star Child attempt to do the same.’
The hybrid form in Star Child is really exciting and interesting, making for a fun and dynamic way to engage with biography or nonfiction in general. It seems only fitting that an author who’s legacy has helped science fiction become more inclusive and inspired generations of writers from all sorts of backgrounds be addressed in an innovative way. I enjoy seeing that poetry has become common in YA or middle grade books, such as novels in verse becoming more common, and I’m glad to see it resonates with readers and help usher in a new generation of poets. While the poetry here is certainly aimed at younger readers, it is quite fun and allows a unique perspective at the ways Butler’s work touches readers as well as a perspective of the world going on around Butler and, as Zoboi writes:
‘readers of all ages should know that Octavia Estelle Butler was once a little Black girl growing up during the Civil Rights Movement and the Space Race…Her stories merge history, anthropology, sociology, biology, and technology. The biographical speculative poems in Star Child attempt to do the same.’
The poetry incorporates history and science in creative ways, such as the poem Space Race which juxtaposes two columns, the first beginning ‘Bombs in the Sky’ under “Space” and the one under “Race” beginning ‘Bombs on the ground.’ It seems a perfect way to address how Butler’s work interrogated issues of race while also being speculative fiction about alien worlds or even time travel to the past as in Kindred. I especially like this juxtaposition, starting again with Space: If only the torpedoes Would change course And aim for the stars Or Mars, And we would know for sure That there’d be a hiding place Or a new home Beyond the clouds
And next to that is Race: If only Jim Crow Would have a change of heart And march beside us Braving horses and dogs, And we would know for sure That there’d be a Safe place In our own homes In our on skins
I learned a lot from this book and while I’ve read many of her works and essays, the most biography I knew previously was from the essays in Bloodchild and Other Stories (reviewed here) that discussed her finding a space for herself in a white male dominated genre. There are excellent passages on how narratives of women as heroes, especially Black women, were hardly present and how she had to break from the mold of spacemen adventures to create her own. ‘Everything I read that was intended for women seemed boring as hell,’ Butler had said, and she set out to change that. I appreciate how many large chunks of quotes from Butler are incorporated at the start of each biographical vignette, letting Butler tell her own story as much as Zoboi does.
‘She leaps into other bodies and minds To feel, to know, to empathize With us all—like a kindred soul.’
The sections on how Butler came to enjoy sci-fi and later write afrouturistic stories are great. ‘I made my own society in the books and in the stories I told myself,’ Butler said. I enjoyed her discussion on how watching the news and not knowing what words meant inspired the imagination, such as hearing of someone being “liquidated” calling to mind them being dissolved in a mixing bowl. ‘Everything was theater for the mind,’ she said. Butler, growing up a Baptist, also found biblical tales as a great source of inspiration. I also loved the mention of Baba, the cocker spaniel that belonged to the employers of Butler’s mother and how Butler credited her interactions with Baba ‘for writing about empathy in her novels, where human being would feel what others are feeling.’ This seems most prominent in Parable of the Sower (reviewed here).
I was happy to learn that Ibi Zoboi got to meet her hero, Octavia Butler, before she tragically passed in 2006 at the age of 58, meeting her before the ceremony where she would win a Nebula Award for Parable of the Talents. Butler inspired countless writers, helped ensure there was a space for Black authors and women in science fiction and left us with a large catalog of incredible books to remember her by and heed her warnings to help shape a brighter future. Star Child is a lovely, innovative biography that celebrates this icon and introduces young children to her life and works. I hope you will be as moved by it as I was.
‘I have written books about making the world a better place and how to make humidity more survivable…You can call it save-the-world fiction, but it clearly doesn’t save anything. It just calls people’s attention to the fact that so much needs to be done.’ --Octavia Estelle Butler (June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006)...more
As inspiring an icon of fashion and personality as she was a painter and visionary, Frida Kahlo lived a short life but has been immortalized through hAs inspiring an icon of fashion and personality as she was a painter and visionary, Frida Kahlo lived a short life but has been immortalized through her art and legacy. Francisco De La Mora's lovely graphic biography, Frida Kahlo: Her Life, Her Works, Her Home, takes us on an artistic journey through the life of the great artist, from her childhood sheltering the Zapataristas in her parent’s home, her tragic accident that left her bed-ridden for much of her days, her love for husband Diego Rivera, her miscarriages, and her travels to the US and Europe. Known for a folk art style with surreal imagery and arresting portraits, Kahlo’s work is immediately recognizable and often deals with themes of pain and, as described by André Breton, ‘wonderfully situated at the point of intersection between the political (philosophical) line and the artistic line.’ This short graphic novel is a lovely look into her life, illustrated in a style rather reflective of her own, and was a quick but enjoyable read.
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Growing up in Detroit, Mi, I had access to a truly amazing art museum, the DIA and was at all times waiting to visit it again. In one of the rooms was a large, 27 panel fresco depicting the Detroit auto industry in celebration of the worker, complete with a lot of rather surreal panels around it such as hands coming out of a mountain. I was enthralled by this—I mean it is huge and you can spin around and look at it for hours—especially so as my father worked for Ford Motor Co. and I saw this mural as celebratory of our family as well as the area I lived and so at a young age I became very interested in the art of Diego Rivera. Now Diego rules, but this fascination very quickly lead me to discover the artwork of Frida Kahlo and there, that was when I realized WOW I love art and this feeling of fascination and vague discomfort yet beauty I saw when I looked at it. I also loved knowing she had lived nearby during her time in the US with Rivera, it was like my first taste of “local pride” I think, even though the pair are usually associated with their home in Mexico (Kahlo and Rivera would live in two separate houses connected by a bridge, which I’ve always found rather lovely as they gave each other space but were never really apart). As a big fan of Kahlo, this of course led me to who I would probably now saw are my favorites, Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington, but I always think about the amazing work Kahlo did in her short life.
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Diego Rivera mural at the Detroit Institute of Art
I enjoyed this little graphic novel and while it was rather brief, it does cover a lot of details about her life and never feels like it is overly shallow but also doesn’t overload you with details and dates. You see the important things and I learned quite a bit I didn’t know. She lived a fascinating life, and while she was hindered by chronic pain she knew many famous people and did incredible things. Being stuck in bed for over a year after the accident on the bus led her to begin painting a lot and many of her works depict pain and herself laying down as she was not very easily mobile, which is tragic as she already had difficulty with mobility during her childhood due to polio. But here we get to see her life with Diego, having Leon Trotsky live in her home when he fled Russia, Frida finding André Breton but thankful he gave her an exhibit in Paris (though she did not enjoy Europe and spent much of her time there in the hospital) and more. The art is done in a rather folk art way (not unlike Kahlo’s) and I enjoy the large frames though some of the looser art in the smaller frames seemed a bit lackluster to me and mostly just isn’t my favorite style. Still, it is quite pleasing and effective.
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Frida and Diego
I’ve long loved the works of Frida Kahlo and I hope this book inspires others to discover that same joy for themselves. This book seems more geared to someone still rather new to the artists and hoping to get a look at her biographical information more than those who would already be well-versed in her life but it is still a lovely read for anyone.
when you read him, you get the urge to read and write yourself. i think that that's the best thing anyone can say about a writer. -Rodrigo Fresán
Roberwhen you read him, you get the urge to read and write yourself. i think that that's the best thing anyone can say about a writer. -Rodrigo Fresán
Roberto Bolaño is both the myth-maker and the myth. He creates a realm where reality and fiction copulate to birth a new, better, brighter world. In his works we find literature to be the paramount importance, where literature may not save your life or change your status, but will save your soul. That is the sort of thing I choose to believe in. I want to carry around in my pocket a medallion with Bolaño’s face on one side, and his wordless poem on the other and make him the Patron Saint of the doomed and damned artists who truly believe their craft makes more difference than any political leader, army or god. Bolaño is who I choose to believe in. Bolaño: A Biography in Conversations is a stunning look into the life of the legend, brilliantly structured, cycling between personal research and essay by Mónica Maristain (with whom Bolaño gave his final interview) and her interviews with those who knew the master. What appears is a piercingly beautiful portrait of a sensitive and playful¹ man fiercely dedicated to his craft.
I remember him as a man who wanted to seem tough but had a very sweet side. - Paola Tinoco
The biography chronicles his life from boyhood (we see the truth behind the relationship with his father, a former boxer, that appears in glorious fictionalized truth in his story The Last Evenings on Earth) to his death at an early age from liver failure. Bolaño died while on the waiting list for a new liver (can I please make a stipulation as an organ donor to only give mine to poets and novelists far from the top of a waiting list?). While some of the myth is dispelled and the drug-addicted tough guy attitude cast in a new light (Bolaño neither drank nor did drugs. It is amusing that he always insisted upon being photographed smoking to add to his ‘tough guy’ image), it casts light on a life well lived and one worth honoring. We strip away the errors but find more gold to enjoy, and the list of authors interviewed and works mention is sure to bulk up any to-read list (particularly the list of 16 best novels that he made for Playboy Magazine) The escapades as a Visceral Realist are told with great hilarity, little-known poets turning up at literary meetings and wrecking havoc, and we can be assured that Bolaño was every bit the poet bad-ass he wanted us to see.
The mythology of Bolaño is fascinating. In this modern age, it is tough to keep a low-profile, yet so much of his life is still shrouded in ‘did that really happen?’. The answer is that it truly doesn’t matter if it did or not, but what does it mean to us. His works are so blended with biography and fiction to create a better world imbued with meaning and message that can save us, protect us, comfort us and entertain us. We can choose to believe in the blended myth and find solace there. Why bother with the semantics? Like warring religions debating whose is the ‘truth’ when what really matters is taking the message to heart, mind and action and living life in a better way. Bolaño showed us the route to a world where art is of the utmost importance, and that is something you can take with you forever. And hopefully let it guide your own artistic endeavors. He gave us the beauty in slums or exile, the emotion of defeat, loneliness and the importance of sticking true to your beliefs. Bolaño is on our side, a man both folk-tale and reality, a man worth believing in.
You are missed, goodnight sweet prince.
4.5/5
¹ There is a great story told by Fresan where Bolaño turns up at his door awhile after they had parted ways. Bolaño is pale and soaking wet and tells him he killed a man who tried to mug him because he felt their money dedicated to literature was too important to be taken away by a Skinhead. After much disquieting discussion and alarm, Bolaño finally laughs and asks how Fresan could believe that. He says he needed to call a cap but that seemed to vulgar and boring so he'd spice the story up a bit. Apparently Bolaño was known for such joking around.
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