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Title: Daytripper
Authors: Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon
Genre: Magical Realism, Graphic Novel
Audience: Adult
My Review:
I read the first chapter of Daytripper and was completely taken aback. I was in the mood for some graphic novels and I had just grabbed whatever looked promising at my local library. I had never heard of this book and I didn’t read the synopsis too closely but it still caught my eye. When the main character was murdered at the end of the first chapter, I didn’t know what to think. *blinkblink* *blinkblink* “Well, maybe the rest of the book is about his life before the murder?” I thought to myself. But no. He dies in a completely different way and much earlier in his life at the end of the second chapter. “Okay. This has got to be going somewhere.”
And go somewhere it did. I was so excited as I got closer to the end and finally realized what Moon and Bá were telling me (I freely admit I can be dense at times; this was one of those times). I knew that if the authors got the end right, this graphic novel would be beyond awesome. They pulled it off. I finished it and sat back just completely and utterly satisfied in a way that I rarely am at the end of a book. Daytripper rocked my world almost as deeply as Maus did but in a very different way. I don’t make the comparison lightly.
It’s hard to even say what the book is about, much less what I took away from it. It’s a book that on the surface is all about the myriad ways that we can die. But beneath that superficial layer is a profound statement about life and living and wringing everything that we can out of the time we have. I have a feeling that everyone takes something a little different away from this book, but that’s the best way I can word how it affected me. Any of us can go at any time. What are you going to do with your time? Are you happy with the path your life is following? If not, what are you going to do about it?
Daytripper will leave you pondering these questions and more. I highly recommend it.
Synopsis from GoodReads:
What are the most important days of your life?
Meet Brás de Oliva Domingos. The miracle child of a world-famous Brazilian writer, Brás spends his days penning other people’s obituaries and his nights dreaming of becoming a successful author himself—writing the end of other people’s stories, while his own has barely begun.
But on the day that life begins, would he even notice? Does it start at 21 when he meets the girl of his dreams? Or at 11, when he has his first kiss? Is it later in his life when his first son is born? Or earlier when he might have found his voice as a writer?
Each day in Brás’s life is like a page from a book. Each one reveals the people and things who have made him who he is: his mother and father, his child and his best friend, his first love and the love of his life. And like all great stories, each day has a twist he’ll never see coming…
In Daytripper, the Eisner Award-winning twin brothers Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá tell a magical, mysterious and moving story about life itself—a hauntingly lyrical journey that uses the quiet moments to ask the big questions.
Similar Books:
If you liked Daytripper, you might also like my reviews of
- Maus by Art Spiegelman
- Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi
- The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Purchase:
Buy Daytripper from Malaprop’s Bookstore in beautiful Asheville, NC or
