Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #436990 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-31
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 80 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dan Clowes described the story in Ghost World as the examination of "the lives of two recent high school graduates from the advantaged perch of a constant and (mostly) undetectable eavesdropper, with the shaky detachment of a scientist who has grown fond of the prize microbes in his petri dish". From this perch comes a revelation about adolescence that is both subtle and coolly beautiful. Critics have pointed out Clowes's cynicism and vicious social commentary, but if you concentrate on those aspects, you'll miss the exquisite whole that Clowes has captured. Each chapter ends with a melancholia that builds towards the amazing, detached, ghost-like ending. --Poppy Andress

Synopsis
The Original Illustrated Screenplay Of The Year's Hottest Movie; Edited and designed by Daniel Clowes, and co-written by Clowes and director Terry Zwigoff, The Ghost World Screenplay is more of a scrapbook of the making of the film than simply a published screenplay. Timed to coincide with the summer release of the MGM movie starring Thora Birch, Scarlet Johannson, Teri Garr and Steve Buscemi, it tells the story of Enid and Rebecca, two supremely ironic, above-it-all teenagers facing the thrilling uncertainty of life after high school. As they attempt to continue their life-long friendship into a new era, they soon discover that what seemed like a future of endless possibilities looks more like a depressing reality of strip malls, low-paid service jobs and fading memories. Clowes paints a tender picture of this intellectually precocious, sexually adventurous, and formative period in their lives.

Customer Reviews

the very thing that happens
Don't you just hate it when a reviewer titles their review with a line you'd only understand if you'd read the book they're reviewing, and why would you read it if you'd read the book.

Ghost World isn't exactly value for money at only 80pages. But its a great story of friendship and the transition between different stages of life, in this case high school to college, you'll feel gratified after reading it.

What's really interesting about Ghost World is the way its two characters are all so right about their judgments on the world around them, but they are so judgmental that not even themselves or each other live up to their expectations.
Like 'Black Hole' this story shows that life doesn't simply start and ends like a story, encapsulating just a piece of life.

The story is both funny and emotional, true to life and outrageously off the wall.
Daniel Clowes style is defined by its set black lines that in case ever detail, coloured simply in white and mint shade of green. It's not the value of other comics but it's one you'll want to read again and again.

A beautiful booký
I picked this book up on someone's desk at work and started flicking through. "Haven't read it myself but it's meant to be quite good" was the brief recommendation.

Quite good aren't really the words for this beautiful story of, well, just two friends and the short period during which they try to adjust to having left school and face uncertain future.

The tale(s) centre on Enid (a sassy, witty deep thinker with a sarcastic rapier like wit) and Rebecca (an attractive gentle girl, a more relaxed foil to Enid's barely concealed angry angst). Daniel Clowes chronicles their small time (and town) adventures, with a sensitivity that belies both his gender and dare I say the comic book format.

It soon becomes apparent that the friendship that served them well through school and through what could have been some very tough times (a funeral is suggested in the opening pages, Enid's had multiple step mothers and Rebecca appears to only have a single parent / grandmother / guardian?) is going to be tested and stretched as they grow apart and try to find out who they are and who they want to be...

I was amazed and unsettled as to how instantly I was whisked back to that painful time when you're told that you're completely free and everything is possible. Yet, at the same time - like Enid and to lesser extent Rebecca - you're seized by a terrible nostalgic fear of the future and clutch for security at what's in your past.

My only criticism (and this is probably actually one the books strengths) is the brevity of the stories is quite brutal. You begin to care desperately for these vulnerable characters and want to be reassured that they do indeed find some kind of contentment ... yet the ambiguous story lines and (in my mind) vague ending ensures that they remain ghosts not just from the author's but your own past as well...

Buy it, as the other reviewers have said it's wonderful...

Loved it!
Bought the book because I really liked the film, and it didn't disappoint me - I enjoyed it even more than the film. Highly Recommended!