unicorndeburgh reviewed Stuck rubber baby by Howard Cruse
Review of 'Stuck rubber baby' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This book is amazing. It was originally published in 1995. I read the 2010 hardback with the introduction by Alison Bechdel.
I had overlooked the introduction, and started reading a bit absentmindedly on the bus. A short way in, I stopped, realizing I needed to slow down and drink in this art. Turning back to the front, I found her introduction, and confirmed that I had a treasure to read.
The art is remarkable. It's crisp black and white with apparently infinite crosshatching and detail. He changes up the layout without ever confusing your eye. It's set in the 1960s, with a present-day narrator appearing occasionally. He calls them the Kennedy years. The clothes, cars, appliances, etc all look exactly right for the era to me.
The story is set in a small city in the South, which appears to be meant to resemble Birmingham. The main character is a …
This book is amazing. It was originally published in 1995. I read the 2010 hardback with the introduction by Alison Bechdel.
I had overlooked the introduction, and started reading a bit absentmindedly on the bus. A short way in, I stopped, realizing I needed to slow down and drink in this art. Turning back to the front, I found her introduction, and confirmed that I had a treasure to read.
The art is remarkable. It's crisp black and white with apparently infinite crosshatching and detail. He changes up the layout without ever confusing your eye. It's set in the 1960s, with a present-day narrator appearing occasionally. He calls them the Kennedy years. The clothes, cars, appliances, etc all look exactly right for the era to me.
The story is set in a small city in the South, which appears to be meant to resemble Birmingham. The main character is a young white man struggling with his own identity, who is swept into the local part of the civil rights fight. He's doing his best to convince himself, and others, that he's not gay. The parallels with the discrimination he faces, and that against African Americans is clear.
The characters are three-dimensional, complex. No one's a saint, and no one (that you meet, at least) is perfect. Well, maybe Anna Dellyne.
Read it, now!
