Ghost World (comics)

This article is about the graphic novel. For the movie adaptation, see Ghost World (film).

Book cover

Ghost World is a graphic novel by Daniel Clowes. The author describes the story 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."

Synopsis

Originally chronicled in Clowes acclaimed comic series, Eightball, the full length graphic novel was first released in book form in 1997. Like many of Clowes' graphic novels, Ghost World breaks the stereotypical mold of the superheroes-dominated comics genre, in its realistic, banal, and practically objective portrayal of everyday life and adolescence (critics tend to describe the work as "literary" as opposed to some of its peers). Each chapter ends with a certain amount of melancholia which gradually builds up into the end of the series. The work calls to mind other coming-of-age works, specifically novels, such as The Catcher in the Rye or The Bell Jar. Unlike Holden Caulfield and Esther Greenwood of the aforementioned novels, Ghost World's protagonists find no solutions or answers to their conflicts. The comic ends with both protagonists, Enid and Rebecca, separate, each faced with choices that must be made. The reader does not see the result of these choices.

Trivia

• The main character's name, "Enid Coleslaw," is an anagram of "Daniel Clowes".

Collections

• Hardcover Edition: ISBN 1560972807 Fantagraphics Books (December 1, 1997)
• Paperback Edition: ISBN 1560974273 Fantagraphics Books; 4th edition (April 1, 2001)

Other Media

The book was made into a 2001 movie, Ghost World, directed by Terry Zwigoff (also known for his award-winning documentary about underground cartoonist Robert Crumb). Thora Birch played Enid, Scarlett Johansson played Rebecca, and Steve Buscemi played Seymour (a composite of several minor roles in the comic, although very important in the movie). It is rumored that Christina Ricci was at one time considered for the role of Enid, but by the time the project started to come together she had become too old for the part.