Ice Haven - Softcover

CLOWES, DANIEL

3.93

7,216 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0224077791 ISBN 13: 9780224077798

Publisher: JONATHAN CAPE, 2005

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Welcome to Ice Haven! 'It's not as cold here as it sounds.' So declares Random Wilder, the town's would-be poet laureate. Would be, that is, were it not for the 'florid banalities' of arch-rival poet Ida Wentz, whom the Ice Haven Daily Progress continues to publish 'ad nauseam'. Random is our ersatz guide to the sleepy midwestern hamlet, and just one of many characters we meet in this ingenious novel told in the form of short comic strip instalments - a form that Time magazine regarded as reminiscent of Robert Altman. In addition to Wilder, we meet a captivating cast of characters. There are the lovelorn lovelies Violet Van der Platz and Vida Wentz, the detective team of Mr and Mrs Ames, those adorable interracial moppets Carmichael and Paula, and the disaffected stationery salesgirl Julie Patheticstein, just to mention a few. Along with the Blue Bunny, the bitterest rabbit in town, fresh-sprung from prison and ready to wreck havoc: 'I paid my dues! It's all about ME this timell' And lest we forget: poor little David Goldberg, who's been missing for over a week now...All of this blends together seemlessly to weave a fascinating, multi-layered tale that is ultimately based on and inspired by - wait for it -- Leopold and Loeb.

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About the Author:

Daniel Clowes was born in 1961. He is the creator of the comic books Eightball, Ghost World, which was made into a film by the director Terry Zwigoff, David Boring, and Ice Haven. His adaptation of his own Ghost World graphic novel for the screen earned him an Oscar nomination. A regular contributor to the New Yorker, McSweeney's, and The Best American Comics, he lives in California with his wife.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 10 Up–Previously published in the independent comic-book series Eight Ball, this is a darkly comic romp through the small Midwestern town of Ice Haven. The basic story is pretty straightforward: a sad, quiet little boy named David Goldberg vanishes. But instead of delivering a pulp-inspired detective story, Clowes uses the child's tale mostly as a backdrop. His real interest is in the lives of the bizarre, yet all-too-real townsfolk. They include a lovesick teen, an irritable private detective, a poet, and a schoolyard bully. Although the characters are types, the author/illustrator embellishes them enough to make them unique and memorable. Through vignettes that jump perspective every few pages, readers witness their lives and individual reactions to David's disappearance. As the point of view shifts, so does the artwork. In showing how the event affects the boy's classmates, the panels take on a style inspired by Charles Schultz's Peanuts, but Clowes moves into satire with a bleakly funny schoolyard of kids talking quite openly about sex, drugs, and violence. Other vignettes pull from the motifs of detective strips, teen romances, and The Flintstones. While well-read comics fans will get most of the jokes, some references may frustrate or confuse readers. Overall, though, there is plenty here to enjoy.–Matthew L. Moffett, Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale
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