The High Desert

by James Spooner

Winner of a 2022 ALA Alex Award Winner of the 2023 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Print Comics One of The Washington Post 's 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2022 * One of NYPL's Best Books of 2022 *A Publishers Weekly "Best Book of 2022"  A formative coming-of-age graphic memoir by the creator of  a young man’s immersive reckoning with identity, racism, clumsy teen love and belonging in an isolated California desert, and a search for salvation and community through punk. Apple Valley, California, in the late eighties, a thirsty, miserable desert. Teenage James Spooner hates that he and his mom are back in town after years away. The one silver lining—new school, new you, right? But the few Black kids at school seem to be gangbanging, and the other kids fall on a spectrum of micro-aggressors to future Neo-Nazis. Mixed race, acutely aware of his Blackness, James doesn't know where he fits until he meets Ty, a young Black punk who introduces him to the school outsiders—skaters, unhappy young rebels, caught up in the punk groundswell sweeping the country. A haircut, a few Sex Pistols, Misfits and Black Flag records suddenly, James has friends, romantic prospects, and knows the difference between a bass and a guitar. But this desolate landscape hides brutal, building a classmate overdoses, a friend must prove himself to his white supremacist brother and the local Aryan brotherhood through a show of violence. Everything and everyone are set to collide at one of the year's biggest shows in town... Weaving in the Black roots of punk rock and a vivid interlude in the thriving eighties DIY scene in New York's East Village, this is the memoir of a budding punk, artist, and activist.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Nonfiction, Comics, Music, Punk, Biography

368 pages, Hardcover

First published May 17, 2022

About the author

James Spooner is an award winning graphic novelist, filmmaker and tattoo artist. His debut graphic novel, The High Desert was named “Best of 2022” by Publishers Weekly, The Washington Post and The New York Public Library. The High Desert is the 2023 recipient of the American Library Association's Alex Award and the Cartoonist Studio Prize.

Spooner co-edited an anthology of Black punk writers and comic creators entitled, Black Punk Now. Available now, the book was named in the top 10 Music Books of 2023 by Pitchfork and received a Kirkus star. Pantheon has recently acquired his forthcoming second memoir, set for publication in 2025. He was recently commissioned to adapt a story  by the Scottish Book Trust and is  regular contributor to RazorCake Magazine.  

Spooner directed the seminal documentary Afro-Punk which premiered at national and international film festivals, including Toronto International and The American Black Film Festival. James also co-founded the AfroPunk Festival, which currently boasts audiences in the hundreds of thousands around the world.

​Spooner’s work has been recounted in various publications, including NPR, The Los Angeles Times, Vice, The Village Voice, The New Yorker, MTV, NBC News and Variety. He was a recipient of the ReNew Media Rockefeller Grant. He is an ongoing guest curator for the Broad Museum in Los Angeles, and previously programmed for the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

James continues to screen Afro-Punk around the world, giving talks on punk, comics and Black identity.

Reviews

[Lydia Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

James Spooner I really enjoyed this book. Mr. Spooner has delivered a well needed roadmap for future generations of kids that don’t quite fit in, especially kids of color. This book is as captivating as it is inspiring. The High Desert is an American tale of race, politics, counter-culture, and the tender and personal story of Black adolescence. If you’ve ever had to fight to be yourself, this book is for you. Spooner beautifully illustrates the struggle and joy of finding self-acceptance. I couldn't stop turning the pages. I highly recommend this great book for all ages and race.

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

memoir that gives you punk history (without being overly explanatory or 101, thank god!!!) as well as intimate reflective personal narrative. complex considerations of racism and subculture, family and found family and friends… delightful.

[Maia · Rating 5 out of 5]

James' white mother and his black father divorced when he was in elementary school, and he moved around a lot. For high school, he moved with his mom to Apple Valley, a barren small town in the desert an hour inland from Los Angeles. Already a skater, James encountered punk music just went he needed it most: as an isolated and angry teen in a racist town with little to no underground scene or counterculture. The music, and later, the politics, of punk raised James in the semi-absence of parents and role models. This memoir, chronically roughly a year, is an unflinchingly honest look at the cruelty, creativity, friendship, and solidarity of teens. It has the density and scratchy texture of a 90s zine without ever sacrificing clarity. I was very impressed by how clearly and in what detail Spooner was able to recreate his high school angst and activist awaking in this coming of age tale. Punk wasn't the music that found me, but I still remember the high of finding a new favorite band or song that felt as if it spoke right to my teen soul. This book is a testament to the power of music to reach into the dark and pull someone out into the light.

[Aaron Anstett · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful, moving, and sweet graphic novel by the creator of the documentary Afro-punk about being a bi-racial punk in a mostly white--and even white supremacist--California town

[Quirkyreader · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were major flashbacks for me while reading this. I was one of the “clean teens” so Straight Edge for me was an obvious choice.

I liked the way how the the author expressed all of his teenaged anger through artwork. And it also reenforced the only way to make things better and to change them is to be that positive change.

Read this story and share it with a friend.

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

James Spooner offers up an interesting perspective on punk music and race, but the pacing is slow and the book is so overstuffed with minutia from a single year of his day-to-day teen life and his many crushes, friendships, and parental woes that I was ultimately bored by the time he got around to making a point.

I'm thinking about watching his Afro-Punk documentary though.

[Alexia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a hard time not reading it entirely through when I first picked up the book. It is fantastic! I'll admit that I feel a streak of punk running through me so I could relate to the topic however I feel that James Spooner did an excellent job of exploring punk in the early 90s as a black man. As a white woman, I appreciated him sharing his point of view which I otherwise would not have been able to experience. I look forward to reading more of his work. I can't recommend it highly enough.

[Pamela · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I saw this book at my library I had to read it. I was not a punk, but did listen to some of the music and saw some punk bands play a few times. Also in the 90’s, the era of the book, I spent some time in Apple Valley where this book takes place. I did not go to the high school there, nor knew anyone who actually lived in Apple Valley. But I did have a friend who had a house that he rented out, when empty a group of us would go up for a weekend sometimes. So this book has some familiarity.

Through the whole time reading the book I felt for James Spooner. He had it tough and as a teenager there’s already a lot going on. Moving as often as he did wasn’t helpful for finding long-term friends. On top of it the horrendous racism he encountered, he was a mixed-race kid. Spooner found himself identifying with the punk music and fashion, the way it presented itself, and in this crucial year he was learning.

Over the Christmas break he spent it at his dad’s in New York City. There he ran into a few punks that helped educate him which was pivotal in his life. The more Spooner learned about punk, the more it resonated with him. Back in Apple Valley still feeling lonely, never getting the girl. The attempt at being in a band didn’t work out, his friends were also going through some rough times. It didn’t help that they hung out with racist skinheads.

I was happy to see that SHARP (Skin Heads Against Racial Prejudice) was mentioned, and the history of how skinhead culture got coopted by racists.

This was a personal memoir but it also speaks to being other.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic graphic novel memoir about a Black teenager in the late 80s finding punk (the music, and then the activism) while living in a mostly-white California desert town. It's a long GN, but well worth it for the detail and complexity of the intertwined social and interpersonal issues the author focuses on from that phase of his life.

[Jensen Werley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m always a sucker for punk history, and I really enjoyed this very personal story. Spooner tells his story while still making the readers think about the macro issues of racism, the appropriation of punk culture by racists and the complex feelings teenagers have when they don’t have the words to describe them. The art is beautiful, especially some of the full-page scenes.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

James Spooner, film director of the documentary Afro-Punk, brings the late 80s punk scene to life in this memoir with evocative black-and-white art.

Spanning a year’s time, Spooner shares a pivotal year in high school he spent with his single mom in Apple Valley, California. They were returning after years away, and bi-racial James is wary of his new school, but hoping his old childhood friends will welcome him back. He shares the minutia of teen life, including all the stops and starts of friendship, teen crushes and the discovery of one’s identity. Spooner is a skater and fond of hard rock but begins to look into punk life, typically associated with white kids. But a new Black friend, who fronts a band, inspires him to delve into punk rock. But this new identity comes with a cost, as he runs afoul of a white supremacy group and struggles to connect with his white mother.

The black-and-white art is expressive, with a real effort to capture the essence of the era. At times, the line work can be imprecise, with some distortion of facial features, but you can tell Spooner was trying to capture accurate likenesses. Some full-page spreads showcase the bleak desert, somewhat of a metaphor for his life at the time. The story was overly long, with some uneven pacing, but the unique art matched the DIY aesthetic that is part of punk life. The story did make me reminisce about my own life, as I too grew up in the 80s/90s and a few of my acquaintances went punk in late high school. As a straight-laced athlete, I never understood the appeal, but now I appreciate why it might have spoken to them.

This memoir of growth, isolation, and racism is a love letter to the friends that helped buffer Spooner through his most difficult times and to the internal strength it took to become the artist and activist he is today. I advocated for it to be in the Top 10 of 2022 Best Graphic Novels for Adults Reading List when I was on the committee last year, and was glad when it was chosen!

This review can also be found on my blog: https://graphicnovelty2.com/2023/04/1...

[Fraser Simons · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic graphic memoir about intersectional punk culture from a black perspective when it was happening. It’s very open and honest, and doesn’t feel condescending, openly criticizes the ways in which he was arrogant at that age. I also really appreciated that it wasn’t a narrative memoir, where the “story” feels very fabricated and not true-to-life to conform to the expectations of a narrative. There’s through lines that exist because they were formative experiences and they start and come to a close when they’re introduced in his life, but there’s loose ends that exist because that’s what happened, and I really liked that. It gives the rest of it authenticity, to me.

It’s also just a fascinating thing to read, since it’s historical. Punk like it was doesn’t exist as it did. Before the internet and before it was co-opted yet further. Before intersectional politics was really codified or in the mainstream, either. And it has the “real” punk ethos too, while explaining the variations it sometimes took, basically in medias res of its co-opting, though he wasn’t aware of it at the time.

It’s relatable, clear, geared towards teens, and I think would make a lot of people feel seen. There’s universal challenges to being a teenager in here and then there’s specific ones, which broaden the feel like an easy gateway to learning about a PoC experience. I can’t find a fault with it.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know there are people who will find this graphic memoir speaks directly to their experience. I'm not one of those people, but really appreciated reading about this bi-racial kid's coming of age and learning a bit about punk history along the way. I really liked the illustration style, and think this would resonate more with folks who've had similar experiences.

[Peacegal · Rating 5 out of 5]

This absorbing graphic memoir once again really shows off what this medium can do and how awesome it can be. Spooner writes of his experience in the punk scene of the early 1990s, along with the added pressures of being a Black kid in small-town America where racism is always bubbling under the surface--and occasionally, frighteningly, boils over into violence.

There is of course, intense love for punk music and culture, but anyone who has ever been an awkward teenager or felt like a misfit will relate to this, even if you've never sported a mohawk or slam-danced.

I knew I liked this book from the start, but it was content like this, that really put it over the top for me personally:



Hey! Ho! 5 stars!

[Jeffrey "Chairman" Couch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just fantastic. Completely original! An incredibly unique graphic novel/memoir centering a teenage POC punk rocker in a racist, small, California town in the late 80's and early 90's. Reading this was like watching a groundbreaking coming of age movie for the first time! I felt the same excitement that I had while watching classic flicks such as 'Suburbia' (the Penelope Spheeris film), 'Over The Edge', or 'Pixote' for the first time. A must-have book.

[David Agranoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

The High Desert by James Spooner

As a middle-aged punk rocker who remembers the era before Nirvana, I often have to remind the younger generation how dangerous it was to be a weirdo. While the 80s are glorified by a generation who didn’t experience it. I wrote a whole novel on the theme (Punk Rock Ghost Story) and that is much of the feeling of this memoir. James Spooner is a bit younger but where he grew up in Apple Valley was a little behind the times. Something the author learned during a visit to New York City. That trip was something I related to as a small-town punk that visited Chicago in my case.

The author of this book is someone I have seen interviews with. As the founder of the Afro-punk movement. Writing and drawing an entire memoir is no small task. The storytelling is honest and willing to paint an honest picture even if doesn’t give Spooner the coolest image. An absent father, a mother who meant well but didn’t understand his lifestyle. A crappy band, a scene where Nazis and black punk rockers hang out because they are all they have.

It was an interesting ground-level look at a local scene in a town as a Midwesterner I had little context for. That said I read this right after a research trip to Riverside in the area so that helped a little bit. It was seeing the scene in this part of the world that most interested me. Being a rare person of color and connecting to punk rock gave Spooner a unique point of view.

I loved the way he incorporated song lyrics into the art. I knew most of the songs, but this would be a good introduction to punk and hardcore. The fact that he ended up vegan and activist is super cool to me. It is not my typical reading. Most graphic novels I read are science fiction but I could relate the small-town punk thing. Really cool book.

[Bob Massey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adolescence is hard. And it's cathartic to read about the adolescence of another -- the ways it was like and unlike one's own. For me, as a former punk kid, this story was achingly familiar. Feeling like a misfit in the backwater hometown, with no clear idea how to get out or where to go. And catching a little glimmer of sanity in an underground music scene. But it was unfamiliar in a particular way too, as someone who grew up white in America, with all the assumptions and privileges that come with it. So this book was especially eye-opening as the tale of a Black kid who discovers punk rock -- and with it, his tribe. So like, so unlike. But more alike than different, I think, in the end.

I blazed through this book. With Spooner's graphic illustrations, it's more like a show that I binged. James Spooner grew up in Apple Valley, outside Los Angeles. But it could have been almost any suburban nowhere, with its high school cliques, its racists and bullies, the legions of distracted parents struggling to keep themselves afloat, to say nothing of their kids. And while Spooner quotes great lines from classic punk and hardcore songs as his scripture, anyone who turned to music for comfort during those years will identify with his story. The connections you can only make by sharing a secret code your parents can't know. The ways you lean on your friends as your found family just to make it through. The losses of those friends to violence, drugs, college, careers, attrition. The process of carving a guiding ethos out of shared experience. It's a beautiful, tense, exhilarating book that delivers rare insight -- not only into the punk rock underground but also the Black experience. Two countercultures that too rarely overlap.

[DJ High Yellow · Rating 5 out of 5]

My friend gave me this book as a gift and I'm absolutely loving it so far. I read the first half in one night staying up way past my bedtime. So many parallels to my own upbringing as a black kid with a white mom in the suburbs. I never thought anyone could understand my experience as a mixed-black, punk rocker because I felt so terminally unique. Turns out 400 miles away in the same state someone was having a very similar experience. I happen to be roughly the same age as the author so we were going through a lot of the same things around the same time which made the story even more personal to me. Social awkwardness, trying to get in where you fit in, and f*ckin' nazi skinheads, I remember all of that. I didn't think it was possible, but Apple Valley sounds like it had more rednecks than my hometown of Castro Valley. What's with towns in California with Valley in the name? I think any suburban, outcast, punk rock, kid could relate to this story but if you were a POC punk in high school, and especially if you are black, James' story is our story too. I highly recommend this book to anyone who grew up in the punk scene, or any music that defined you in high school, and if you are/were a black "alternative kid" I must insist that you check it out.

[Kari]

Definitely not a format I read a ton of, although I usually enjoy them when I do. I think the idea of doing a memoir as a graphic novel is great and it worked SO well for this one.

In this book we follow James, a black teenager trying to find where he fits in. He doesn’t feel like he fits in with the other black kids because of the things he’s into. After meeting Ty, another black student at his school, he’s introduced to the world of skating and punk music and finally starts to find his place. This is a coming-of-age story for James and I think it’s such an important one.

After reading this I went on to watch James’ documentary, Afro-Punk, which delves into the African American experience in the punk scene. As someone who has always been into alternative music, I enjoy documentaries/books about the subject. But also, as a white person, this was such a unique perspective that I’m glad I got to see. James is also the creator of the Afropunk Festival.

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, this is an excellent coming of age memoir, touching ever so important themes like racism and identity, full of teenage angst, and very meaningful as such.

But it wasn't my cup of tea, maybe because I'm not a superfan of punk, I'm not POC (even though sometimes I get treated like one, just because I have an accent), and I didn't grow up in the US, not to mention in the marginalized America that High Desert represents.

So, once again, this is good, but I didn't much enjoy it...

[pluto evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so amazing. I personally would want everyone to read this book because of how much people can learn to be a better ally and punk. It is one of the best biographies I have ever read it doesn't sugar coat his life and gives you the real honest truth of the world but also shows what he learned from it. I recently have been wanting to get into punk culture but I was put off by how much there was and how much I didn't know about skinheads and much more shown in this book. But this helped me understand through real life experiences and the history behind the people. I could not put this book down as a person that lives in a small town I am happy this book came into my school.

[Tiffany T · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read. He really captures that feeling of trying to fit in and figure out who you are. That uncertainty of youth and that feeling of being an outsider. And why the punk movement was so enticing at that time of his life. Also the constant racism both subtle and unsubtle that he experiences. The art is excellent too.

[Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book enough. Authentic, beautiful, inspiring, heartbreaking, and so much more with amazing art and design. It's a treasure. The punk rock scene I grew up in was a little earlier than James, but he captures the essence so well. Like James, I became politically aware through my earlier experiences and remain grateful for those times. I imagine many of us reading this who grew up punk rock will find parts of our story here. Exceptional work!

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

All the stars! I grew up during the same time period and really related to his statement, “Punk rock helped to set me apart from all the things I hated.” Such a compelling story of personal realization and growth. Trigger warnings for sexism, racism and racial slurs, but the author tackles the subjects head on in the text.

[Mat · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5* Give me a graphic novel memoir and I’m going to eat it up. This straddled the line between personal experience and historical context really well.

[Mer · Rating 5 out of 5]

graphic novels rock and this one was super rich. it is a compelling memoir, one that does an incredible job at being about more than just the person, but the culture, the scene, the time, too.

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading the High Desert. The other day I went to Barnes and Noble on a whim bc there was a sale, and I stumbled across this book, flipped to a random page, saw one piece of dialogue, and knew I had to buy it. To be honest all I needed to see was a protagonist who looked like me. I have never resonated with a book or story so much! Not only as a mixed man with a black father and white mother, or the fascination with punk rock and skate scene from playing Tony Hawk games on my ps2 as a kid, or having a Mohawk for years as a kid and being constantly questioned about it, but beyond everything I found in your story something so niche and relatable that I didn’t know I needed. When I say the only time I put the book down was to eat! The art was a perfect fit. The commentary along side the story not only was humorous and enlightening, but it gave a sense of the author telling you this story first hand as if you were right there with him. This has wit, humor, drama, and plenty more! Could not recommend enough!

[Santi · Rating 5 out of 5]

RELATABLE. I think I read this book during a moment in time when I really needed it. It’s so difficult navigating the world w all these different identities + just trying to understand who you are in the midst of it.

This made nostalgic— thinking back to my friends in high school. It’s one of the few times in my life where I felt like I truly belonged. I feel like I’m chasing that as an adult. This inspired me to think about ways I can carve out those spaces for myself + others

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many books handling punk history in a memoir format are a little too dense for me often (Laura Jane Grace's memoir, for example). This book shows and doesn't tell, and I don't just attribute that to the format of it being a graphic novel but to the way Spooner slowly and gradually introduces the reader to punk and its nuances the same way he was slowly throughout his life and experience. I think it is oppressively cool to see punk viewed through experience and not necessarily just historical fact. Another really interesting factor of This Book Is that we see a more Suburban example of punk and we see New York City punk. This book tackles a lot of the punk subculture in a fun and exciting way, and I think it's wonderful for anyone in or getting into punk.

The memoir aspect of the book makes it more sympathetic and engaging as well. So often, history can be a dense and boring one for me, but this is a nice presentation of punk.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2t9...
Playlist featuring the mentioned songs in order

[A. Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just read The High Desert. It is brilliant. And the art was perfect… like Raymond Pettibon and the Hernandez Brothers had a baby! It’s a big book and I put it down once... to eat dinner. We go through a lot of graphic novels in this house and this one stands out.

I was one of the Black kids in the punk scene on the other side of the country around the same time so this is right in my wheelhouse. But I’m certain that anyone who ever struggled to find their way or fit in will relate to this book. Honestly, even someone who never had to deal with that and appreciates great storytelling will enjoy this book (and get some perspective!)