Category — Sherman, Me, and Absolutely True Diary

Jami Attenberg wrote a wonderful little article for the current issue of PRINT, a fancy-pants design magazine, focusing on my Absolutely True Diary comics and artwork.

My mom got several emails from her friends today because I was mentioned in this review of Absolutely True Diary on All Things Considered. Mom also pointed out that you can see my name on the book’s cover on an ad in the current New Yorker (page 98), which is actually pretty cool.

A new review in the Chicago Sun-Times suggests that I “channel” Junior – which is EXACTLY what I was trying to do:

“Junior is an aspiring artist — vividly channeled by Ellen Forney — and his scribblings provide another layer of understanding and levity to the story. The drawing of American-Indian wannabe Ted (”I’m not Indian … but I feel Indian in my bones”) should give anyone with a Pendleton jacket pause.”

Also, it looks like I may be joining Sherman for his Seattle readings on October 11 at the Central Public Library and October 30 in Lake Forest Parkway (where is that??). News on that when it comes.

Here’s another enthusiastic review of Diary, with this about me:

“Arnold wants to be an artist. He’s constantly drawing comics about his life on crumpled scraps of paper, which the reader sees every few pages. These black-and-white drawings are by Seattle-based cartoonist Ellen Forney, who, through a mix of rough sketches and more artfully done images, captures the frustrated Arnold’s isolation, anger and humor as well as the situations that are driving him to put pen to paper.”

Book with Sherman Alexie is getting great, great reviews. My art is “hilarious” (Santa Cruz Sentinel) and “adds levity and summary to the story line” (The Oregonian).

Also, from a recent interview with Sherman in the Seattle Times:

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Q: And were the cartoons your idea?

A: Yeah. When I started writing it as a novel, for some reason in the first paragraph, I made [the main character] a cartoonist. I sent Ellen Forney, who is a friend of mine, about a page, I think, and I said, “Can you draw a cartoon of this?” About five minutes later, it came back over the e-mail. So she was a part of this five minutes into its creation.

I’m getting angry, though, because people are assuming I had nothing to do with the illustrations, that the press hired her. It was a really collaborative effort. Some of them I dictated, some of them we did together, some of them she did on her own.

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I’m glad Sherman is noting that, because he and I did work together really intensely. (And, I did do a lot of it on my own!)

I’ve been remiss in posting the fabulous reviews of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, the book I did with Sherman Alexie. My comics/illustrations are “witty,” “insightful,” and a few times just referred to as “Junior’s drawings” (the main character). I’ll take as a compliment and assume the reviewer was swept into thinking they were “real”. Here’s a link to the reviews on Sherman’s site.

So, Sherman Alexie wrote this novel and I did 65 (65!) comics and comic illustrations for it. It’s being published by Little, Brown, and will be on the shelves this fall:

It’s about a 14-year-old boy named Arnold who grows up on an Indian reservation and transfers to a white school. He’s a cartoonist, and I did “his” journal/sketchbook. Frankly, I think it’s a really good book, and so far, everyone seems to agree:

From Alison Bechdel (Fun Home, “Dykes to Watch Out For”):

“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian is the most delightful tale of adolescence I’ve read in a long time. Junior Spirit is as eager to know everything in the world as Harriet the Spy, as keenly discerning of adult frailty as Holden Caulfield. But if you took Harriet or Holden and plopped them down on the rez? Neither one of them would have lasted a day. Junior, on the other hand, possesses an against-all-odds resilience that stems as much from his brain (water and all) as his capacious, open heart.”

Richie’s Picks says, ” I loved hanging out in Arnold World!” and gives me a nod for my “humorous and telling drawings”.

Publisher’s Weekly sent out an e-newsletter with a glowing review, and here is the paragraph about me:

“Arnold’s confiding, often hilarious, sometimes frighteningly affectless narrative is enhanced by Ellen Forney’s cartoon illustrations, which capture him, his family, and friends with economy and wit.”

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More reviews and news as they pop up!