Review by Booklist Review
Clowes' follow-up to last year's ambitious Wilson is far more modest in both size and scope. A graphic short story rather than a graphic novel, it opens with middle-aged divorce Marshall nervously awaiting a blind date in a coffee shop. When Natalie finally shows up, she's unexpectedly attractive and intelligent, but she soon begins to reveal some troubling emotional baggage. As the evening unfolds, a series of small disasters, including a mugging and a run-in with Natalie's ex, threaten to derail the blossoming relationship. But in an uncharacteristically optimistic coda, Clowes offers hope for an emotional connection even between the most unlikely individuals in the most unpromising circumstances. Marshall is a standard Clowes protagonist, alienated, insecure, and self-obsessed (his ongoing interior monologue is unrelentingly displayed in the captions), albeit decidedly more sympathetic and less misanthropic than most; readers of the New York Times Magazine, where the story was originally serialized, might have been put off by the full bore of Clowes' typical cynicism. His visual approach is also more straightforward than usual, totally fitting for this unassuming but accomplished yarn.--Flagg, Gordon Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Schlubby, broke, lonely divorce Marshall only wants a partner, "someone to read the parts of the paper I throw away (travel, garden)." He's been set up on a date with Natalie, who's more or less perfect for him-operative phrase "more or less." She's got some damage of her own, but they do seem to have at least a touch of chemistry. Over the course of the evening, nearly everything that could go wrong with a tentative flirtation does, including a mugging and a really bad party. Expanded from a serial that ran in the New York Times Magazine, this is a gorgeously staged graphic novella consistently playful and funny on a formal level-there's a running joke involving Marshall's interior monologue covering up images or dialogue, and constant fantasy sequences signaled by drawing-style shifts. It's also the most tightly focused and sweet-tempered of Clowes's books so far, the closest thing he's done to a Woody Allen movie. Still, it wouldn't be Clowes if he didn't show at least a touch of contempt for all of his characters amid the tenderness; the story is a romantic comedy with almost-but not quite-enough caveats to sink any sense of hope. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
The latest installment from independent comics master Clowes (Ghost World; Wilson) is a charmingly cynical look at love, dating, and starting over at midlife. Marshall, a broke, middle-aged divorce who simply wants someone with whom he can share the newspaper, has been set up on a date with the beautiful but damaged Natalie. After they share a meal during which he learns almost everything about her (specifically, her recent difficult relationship and even harder breakup) and she learns almost nothing about him (he cleverly omits his life-altering experience with a sociopathic prostitute), Marshall and Natalie continue further down the relationship rabbit hole into an evening that would test anyone's dating limits. Clowes's art is clean and clever as always, at times shifting to a childlike style when the narration goes inside Marshall's head. Verdict By turns snarky and sweet, Marshall becomes increasingly less of a misfit and more of a hero as the story goes on, and all we wish, for both him and Natalie, is the very best. Dryly funny but buoyed by hopefulness, Clowes's latest is a lovely afternoon read. Highly recommended.-Beth Nerbonne, Rochester P.L., NH (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
An expansion of the strip initially serialized in theNew York Times Magazine.During the brief period when that publication was experimenting with graphic narrative and other serializations, Clowes reached a wider readership, many of them unaware of the renown he'd earned with works like Ghost World(1997). Whether as an introduction to or an affirmation of his comic artistry, this novella-scaled narrative shows the complex, sophisticated possibilities inherent within the artist's work and the graphic-narrative format. The "Mister Wonderful" of the title is a middle-aged divorc named Marshall, waiting at a coffee shop for a blind date who is either very late or who has stood him up. When Natalie belatedly shows, his interior monologue gives way to dialogue, as Clowes artfully conveys what they're thinking and hearing (or think they're hearing) as they're talking. Natalie is far more attractive than Marshall had any reason to anticipate, and she seems to respond to him more warmly than he feels he deserves. She turns out to be as neurotic as he is needy, yet both invite the reader's empathy. After a late start and an awkward process of getting to know each other, they seem to be getting along very well when Natalie reveals she has a party to attend and has to cut their evening short. Yet she ultimately invites Marshall to accompany her to the party, where he knows no one and she finds herself in a position of heightened drama. By the end of a long night, they are somehow still together, though the resolution is no more certain than it would be in life.Clowes finds heightened reality in caricature.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
