Caricature

The bestselling author of Ghost World collects his acclaimed short stories from Eightball and Esquire in softcover for the first time.

The dramatic short stories included in this first softcover edition of Caricature have drawn comparisons to Nabokov for their complex naturalism and sense of humor. Anchored by the title story, considered the first great apotheosis of Clowes' seminal Eightball underground comic book series, Caricature also includes eight other stories, including "Green Eyeliner"—originally published in Esquire as the first work of comics to be featured in the magazine's fiction issue (and commissioned by then-editor Dave Eggers)—"Gynecology," "Blue Italian Shit," "The Gold Mommy," and more.

Clowes has been the most successful alternative cartoonist of his generation, and interest in Caricature should be significant. The film adaptation of Clowes' best-selling book, Ghost World, directed by Terry (Crumb) Zwigoff and starring Thora Birch and Steve Buscemi, will be released in summer 2001 by MGM/UA and has garnered advance critical praise. A new edition of the Ghost World graphic novel and the screenplay of the film—written by Clowes and Zwigoff—are both being published by Fantagraphics in conjunction with the film, while Clowes' last novel, Pantheon's David Boring (2000), was heavily promoted in 2000 with a national tour.