A Ghostly Dance Through the 90s: Loewinsohn’s New Graphic Memoir
Briana Loewinsohn, celebrated for her memoir Ephemera, has conjured up another masterpiece. Enter Raised by Ghosts, a coming-of-age biography steeped in personal experience. Published by Fantagraphics, this narrative whisks you back to the colorful 1990s, weaving together class notes, diaries, and illustrated panels. At its core, this graphic memoir delves into themes of friendship, courage, and the bittersweet journey of growing up.
A Nineties Nostalgia Trip
The book’s endpapers are a perfect nostalgia trigger for 90s kids. Think of a collage of memorabilia: postcards, bookmarks, even a cherry cola wrapper. Loewinsohn skillfully evokes a specific era with these intricate details. She invites us into Briana’s world of adolescence, filled with three-dimensional glasses, a high school playbill, and scribbled notes.
Loewinsohn’s rustic art style transports readers to Briana’s middle school days from 1991 to 1994. Briana seems content, skipping happily along the pavement. However, the joy is short-lived when teasing peers break her bubble. Despite her brave facade, isolation lurks beneath. A diary entry reveals her true feelings: “They all understand how to be in the world in a way that I do not.”
The Haunting Silence of Home
Briana’s loneliness extends into her home life. Her divorced parents are distant figures, only heard through closed doors. “It’s as if I am a ghost in my house,” she writes. Briana is adrift, unseen both at home and school. But high school brings kindred spirits. However, even these friendships are fragile, and her self-worth wavers.
Loewinsohn masters the art of subtlety in her details. Briana’s hair swirls gracefully in the wind, a testament to her gentle defiance. Background conversations become “yaddas” and “blahs,” offering an authentic touch. The panels boast a worn, coffee-stained look, echoing the passage of time and memories.
An Authentic Blend of Prose and Panels
Prose mingles effortlessly with the caricatures, creating an authentic narrative. Loewinsohn punctuates the story with real-life correspondences, notes that seem passed during boring classroom moments or scribbled in candid diary musings. These fragments breathe life into Briana, making her deeply relatable. They give her a voice; they give her wings.
Sweet yet haunting, Raised by Ghosts is a touching ode to Loewinsohn’s younger self. It’s also for all those lost souls yearning to be acknowledged. Briana Loewinsohn (W/A) delivers this heartfelt narrative through Fantagraphics, priced at $18.99. This journey is both poignant and powerful, a beautifully drawn map of a time gone by.
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Image credit: www.brokenfrontier.com
