Internationally bestselling author of The Time Traveler’s Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, and graphic artist Eddie Campbell, of such seminal works as From Hell by Alan Moore, collaborate on a wonderfully bizarre collection that celebrates and satirizes love of all kinds. With 16 different stories told through illustrated prose or comic panels, the couple explores the idiosyncratic nature of relationships in a variety of genres from fractured fairy tales to historical fiction to paper dolls. With Niffenegger’s sharp, imaginative prose and Campbell’s diverse comic styles, Bizarre Romance is the debut collection by two of the most important storytellers of our time.

 

BIO

“Audrey Niffenegger (born June 13, 1963 in South Haven, Michigan) is a writer and artist. She is also a professor in the MFA Creative Writing Program at Columbia College Chicago.

Niffenegger’s debut novel, The Time Traveler’s Wife (2003), was a national bestseller. The Time Traveler’s Wife is an unconventional love story that centers on a man with a strange genetic disorder that causes him to unpredictably time-travel and his wife, an artist, who has to cope with his constant absence.

Her Fearful Symmetry (2009), Niffenegger’s second novel, is set in London’s Highgate Cemetery where, during research for the book, Niffenegger acted as a tour guide.

Niffenegger has also published graphic and illustrated novels including: The Adventuress (2006), The Three Incestuous Sisters (2005), The Night Bookmobile (2009), and Raven Girl (2013). Raven Girl was adapted into a ballet by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor and the Royal Opera House Ballet (London) in 2013.

A mid-career retrospective entitled “Awake in the Dream World: The Art of Audrey Niffenegger,” was presented by the National Museum of Women in the Arts (Washington D.C.) in 2013. An accompanying exhibition catalogue examines several themes in Niffenegger’s visual art including her explorations of life, mortality, and magic.”

Out March 2018

MY THOUGHTS:

I received this graphic novel ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ugh! First person narratives… !!!

This book is a thin read and didn’t take me long to read. Strange, surreal, and filled with both prose and graphic arts. Each chapter was a different story. Not all stories were equally as good. However, that’s the trouble with anthologies, you may like one a whole lot, but the next, not so much. And, it’s always the bad apples that spoil the bunch.

The artwork is fantastic and compliments the text.  I love Niffeneccer’s work, especially in “The Time Traveler’s Wife.” I’m not familiar with Eddie Campbell’s work, but greatly appreciative of being introduced  to it in this anthology–I love his graphics/art.

It’s worth a read if you get the chance. It’s a quick read too, and yes appropriately titled.

I gave this book: