Get a Life

I have A LOT of graphic novels and I am constantly updating my collection, but Get A Life remains one of my favorite books EVER. Wonderful, seemingly effortless art supports a witty story that never gets old even after a hundred reads. Get A Life lives among the best comics ever produced, along with Craig Thompson's Blankets, Graham Annable's Grickle, and Bill Watterson's Calvin and Hobbes.

An engaging and bittersweet set of comics detailing the rather ordinary life of Monsieur Jean, a kind of late-twentysomething Everyman. Dupuy and Berberian, who collaborated on all aspects of this comics' writing and illustration, create a meaningful storyline for Jean without sacrificing humor or imagination. Jean's misadventures in love are nicely tempered by more lighthearted scenes, including Jean's endless standoff with the apartment building's concierge as well as the running gag of the telephone ringing every time Jean settles into a warm bath. Dupuy and Berberian's strength resides in their mastery of quotidian observation. This extends not only to their writing but also to their illustrations, which reflect a fine sense of detail for apartment clutter, youth culture, and the vagaries of life in the city, among other things. Their lines and coloring are pleasant to the eye, and the artistry of Jean's dream sequences is especially notable. Credit to the Montreal-based publishing collective Drawn & Quarterly for bringing Dupuy and Berberian across the Atlantic in a superb English translation. Some of the best graphic novels are being published by independent houses these days. Available in a lovely hardcover edition, this book deserves the highest praise for its literary, graphic, and book-design quality.