Home After Dark
David Small
(Author)
21,000+ Reviews
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Description
Wildly kaleidoscopic and furiously cinematic, Home After Dark is a literary tour-de-force that renders the brutality of adolescence in the so-called nostalgic 1950s, evoking such classics as The Lord of the Flies. Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to sun-splashed California in search of a dream. Suddenly forced to fend for himself, Russell struggles to survive in Marshfield, a dilapidated town haunted by a sadistic animal killer and a ring of malicious boys who bully Russell for being "queer." Rescued from his booze-swilling father by Wen and Jian Mah, a Chinese immigrant couple who long for a child, Russell betrays their generosity by running away with their restaurant's proceeds. Told almost entirely through thousands of spliced images, once again "employ[ing] angled shots and silent montages worthy of Alfred Hitchcock" (Washington Post, on Stitches), Home After Dark becomes a new form of literature in this shocking graphic interpretation of cinema verité.
Product Details
Price
$27.95
$25.99
Publisher
Liveright Publishing Corporation
Publish Date
September 11, 2018
Pages
416
Dimensions
7.2 X 9.3 X 1.2 inches | 2.06 pounds
Language
English
Type
Hardcover
EAN/UPC
9780871403155
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About the Author
David Small is a leading authority on heathers and has been advising growers and gardeners alike for over 30 years. He has written countless articles on heathers and is the current president of the heather society in the UK.
Reviews
A master graphic storyteller who has certainly captured male adolescence in 1950s America. Having to think about dodging high school bullies every day sure resonated with me! And Russell's sexual predicament was handled in a very original way.--Robert Crumb, author of The Book of Genesis Illustrated by R. Crumb
In Small's haunting coming-of-age tale, 13-year-old Russell Pruitt grows like a determined weed in the wake of masculinity so toxic it has literally killed a menagerie of pets in the small California town where he lives with his troubled father.... The story traffics in archetypes--the mean kid who frames the weirdo; the festering cruelty beneath the idyllic small-town facade--but never tips over into trite. With strikingly few words, Small tells Russell's story in close-ups of bullies' sneers and bird's-eye views of parking lots. Cats, dogs, lions, and other animals haunt Russell's waking life and his dreams, perhaps because he, too, fights tooth and claw to survive. In depicting the toll of the harsh environment surrounding these lost boys, Small unearths an (almost) impossible tenderness.--Publishers Weekly [Starred Review]
Veteran artist and illustrator Small turns a deeply focused lens onto the isolation, loneliness, and relentless cruelty of male adolescence in this immensely powerful new work. The dark narrative would be oppressive but for the unexpected kindness shown by a Chinese immigrant couple and several small, quietly profound moments of beauty. Drawn in Small's signature style, the narrative feels more like a series of sketches that capture the choices made by Russell and the people around him, snapshots of actions and consequences rather than a traditional narrative. The illustrations, limited to pen, ink, and washes done in a simple, loosely sketched style, convey the nuanced range of emotion of all things left unsaid. Spare and powerful, this is not to be missed.--Booklist [Starred Review]
Home After Dark is incredibly moving. David Small is among the most masterful storytellers alive today.--Gene Yang, author of Boxers and Saints
In Small's haunting coming-of-age tale, 13-year-old Russell Pruitt grows like a determined weed in the wake of masculinity so toxic it has literally killed a menagerie of pets in the small California town where he lives with his troubled father.... The story traffics in archetypes--the mean kid who frames the weirdo; the festering cruelty beneath the idyllic small-town facade--but never tips over into trite. With strikingly few words, Small tells Russell's story in close-ups of bullies' sneers and bird's-eye views of parking lots. Cats, dogs, lions, and other animals haunt Russell's waking life and his dreams, perhaps because he, too, fights tooth and claw to survive. In depicting the toll of the harsh environment surrounding these lost boys, Small unearths an (almost) impossible tenderness.--Publishers Weekly [Starred Review]
Veteran artist and illustrator Small turns a deeply focused lens onto the isolation, loneliness, and relentless cruelty of male adolescence in this immensely powerful new work. The dark narrative would be oppressive but for the unexpected kindness shown by a Chinese immigrant couple and several small, quietly profound moments of beauty. Drawn in Small's signature style, the narrative feels more like a series of sketches that capture the choices made by Russell and the people around him, snapshots of actions and consequences rather than a traditional narrative. The illustrations, limited to pen, ink, and washes done in a simple, loosely sketched style, convey the nuanced range of emotion of all things left unsaid. Spare and powerful, this is not to be missed.--Booklist [Starred Review]
Home After Dark is incredibly moving. David Small is among the most masterful storytellers alive today.--Gene Yang, author of Boxers and Saints
