I found very little that I liked, but I just wasn't looking. I knew nothing about graphic novels except for "Maus," which I thought was great. I never read any superhero comics when I was a kid. I read some comics when I was a kid, but I never became an addict. No, I have been terribly ignorant of both of those media. It's just more natural to me.ĭid you read comics, or were you familiar with many graphic novels before you started working on "Stitches?"
The best way that I found to do that was by drawing, which is my art, not so much writing. I can't even say that I was thinking of it as a memoir - I was trying to bring a time in my life and certain people in my life back to life so I could see them and see them and the events clearly. I just found that that was the best way to do my memoir. I didn't set out to create a graphic novel. It just makes it hard to focus on one's creative life.Ī page from "Stitches" What made you decide that it was time to create a graphic novel? I'm certain that's going to happen again. Then it was over, and the phone never rang. I feel like I lost a whole year to that Caldecott Medal thing. Are you jaded about awards at this point in your career?ĭavid Small: Let me put it this way, I know that it's just a blip in my life. As an illustrator, you've already won a number of prestigious awards.
You were nominated for the National Book Award, and "Stitches" was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and. CBR News recently spoke with Small about his book.ĬBR News: You've had a busy few months since the book came out. Small's eye for detail, his refusal to sentimentalize his journey and the way he humanizes the monstrous figure that is his mother, brings to mind contemporary masters of the genre such as Tobias Wolff and Mary Karr. It's a disturbing and monstrous story that is simultaneously beautiful and transformative. "Stitches" is a memoir about Small's youth and his parents.
0 kommentar(er)
