From the Bookshelf of 2013 Hub Reading Challenge…
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I got this book on a whim and ended up reading almost entirely in one sitting. The creator went to high school with notorious serial killer Jeffry Dahmer and this is his story -- so off the bat, it is somewhat flawed and anyone looking for an in-depth analysis of Dahmer's crimes or psychology should probably go elsewhere. This is simply a memoir of one teenager's unusual friendship with another, of the sad and pathetic story of a disturbed boy, of all the adults and teens who missed warning sign
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Could Backderf have said spaz one more time in the book? Criminy! I am not usually sensitive to the vast amount of unpleasantness created by teenagers, but these kids and their amusement at the sake of others really takes the cake. There is a note at the end of the book where Derf essentially says that their attitudes are pretty unforgivable and definitely cringeworthy, but I didn't find it until I was well into the notes. I'm pretty sure it should have been the first thing he acknowledged.
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Tough and uncomfortable reading, but the author does a thorough and masterful job of telling a story we haven't heard. The author's own role in Dahmer's life is nuanced and difficult. Though he and his friends may have provided Dahmer with his only meaningful and positive social interactions in high school, they also used him as a joke and avoided him after school, potentially doing more harm than good. Still, the author doesn't shy away from his own behavior, and I respect that he portrays the
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I'm not a big graphic novel person, I'd rather listen to the books in my head, if that makes any sense. But I thought it was a very interesting, if not what I expected. The author's story of Jeffrey Dahmer's youth is a tale of growing up in the 1970's, and the wrong path taken. Knowing a high school acquaintance turned into a famous serial killer has to be quite the head trip. It's especially relevant now in the era of school shootings and the fight against bullying. It's a reminder for us to SE
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Fascinating! Jeffery Dahmer never had close friends, but in high school he became a sort of mascot for the author and his friends, who were amused by his impressions of his mentally ill mother. Though his classmates were often struck by odd or alarming behavior, none of the adults ever picked up on Dahmer's strange hobbies or severe drinking problem. In addition to his own memories and records from that time, Backderf utilizes interviews with classmates and teachers, newspaper stories and FBI fi
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Mar 13, 2013
Marta Boksenbaum
rated it
it was ok
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
comics,
z2013yalsa-challenge
A chilling view into the teenage life of Jeffery Dahmer, from the perspective of Backderf, who went to high school with him and was part of the Dahmer fan club who saw him as a mascot. The illustrations added to the sense of discomfort I felt as the story progressed. The characters all look distorted and wobbly, which adds to the feeling. Backderf skillfully describes what it was like to know Dahmer, and using his own memories along with other sources, paint a very vivid scene of Dahmer's transf
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Can you imagine learning that 13 years after graduating from high school, one of your classmates was a serial killer? I know I can't.
Derf Backderf (is this his real name?) tells about his high school years with Jeffrey Dahmer in this graphio novel. Derf and his friends were probably the closest thing to a friend that Jeffrey Dahmer had in high school. And even calling them friends would be an overstatement. Dahmer was more of an amusement to Derf and his friends than an actual friend, although t ...more
Derf Backderf (is this his real name?) tells about his high school years with Jeffrey Dahmer in this graphio novel. Derf and his friends were probably the closest thing to a friend that Jeffrey Dahmer had in high school. And even calling them friends would be an overstatement. Dahmer was more of an amusement to Derf and his friends than an actual friend, although t ...more
I thought this was very well done, but it'd be hard to say I really enjoyed it, simply because the subject matter is so chilling. Bleak, disturbing, but also probing for some humanity, this read-it-in-one-sitting memoir from the high school acquaintance of one of the most notorious serial killers of all time steers clear of melodrama or sensationalizing an already stomach-turning story. It is (thankfully) light on the gory details, but heavy on a pervading atmosphere of dismay, as well as a genu
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For a book about a notorious killer who did heinous things to people, this wasn't as terrible a read for me as it could have been. (Though perhaps it wasn't the best choice for a four-day weekend at home with my parents, when the other two books I brought with had the words "Death" and "Killers in the title...) I really feel like this book could be used as an anti-bullying tool, because at its heart it's a story about a kid who desperately needed help, had nowhere to turn, and just...fell throug
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My least favorite graphic novel of the 2013 Hub Challenge (so far, at least). This story, for some reason, was just not compelling, nor was the artwork.
Feb 03, 2013
Gillian Dawson
marked it as to-read
