BY LIN-Z

Lynda Barry’s Cruddy is a book about a girl whose life — as the title implies — is cruddy. The protagonist Roberta Rohbeson is an extremely unusual girl with a beyond unusual life. Growing up in the 1971 with a mother who is looking to marry rich and a farther who makes sure she knows he wanted a boy, Roberta's life is filled with chaos, murder, and mayhem. Roberta also has a little sister who she hates with every fiber of her being. Roberta is a plug-ugly 16-year-old girl, living in a redneck, trailer-trash neighborhood. Roberta is a loner; shy, awkward, and quiet. That is, until she meets her first and only friends, a handful of suicidal drugged-up hippies.

The storytelling is remarkable, narrated in a detached first person voice. For example, instead of saying mom or even mother, Roberta says the mother and the father. Barry’s unorthodox writing will always keep you on your toes!

Cruddy is divided into three different stories, all told at what seems like the same time. In one chapter, you will be reading about Roberta's twisted home life, in another you will be reading about her drug-induced hallucinations, and in the next you will be reading about her love life (which will leave your mouth permanently wide open!) Just when you get to the climax of one story, the narrator will take you back to the climax of the previous story. So no matter what, you will find yourself asking what's going to happen next?
The plot is not the only engaging part of this book. The characters, as well, keep you emotionally entangled with their strange names and even stranger personalities. From my favorite character, the cross-dressing couch potato who always starts his sentences with 'Shit and goddamn...' to the Turtle, who is always stoned and looking for meaning, to Roberta’s bitch for a best friend Vicky Talluso, Cruddy is filled with personalities that will make you laugh and cry.

This story is filled with not only wicked writing and crazy characters, but also has superb illustrations by Barry herself. Although I must say, many have thought that because the book has illustrations it’s intended for children. However I will tell you now that this is no children’s book! With sex to drugs to murder to religion Cruddy is a cornucopia of spectacles. I thoroughly recommend this book to every woman and teen. It's flippin' fantastic! Cruddy is written by an amazing woman. Barry is a 40-year-old writer who has published more than a dozen books over the past decade. Her works include Girls and Boys, Everything in This World, My Perfect Life, One Hundred Demons, and The Good Times Are Killing Me, which was made into an off-Broadway play. She also has a very well known comic, Ernie Pook's Comeek. This woman has exceptional talent as is displayed in her book Cruddy.