Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
Stitches
by David Small, Norton 2010
Reviewed by Robert Stapleton
David Small's graphic memoir Stitches is
freshly out in paperback. You should celebrate by grabbing a copy,
or even buying one. Here's why: Small's story is a searing portrait
of the haunting images of his formative years, and they are
haunting. His mother was born with her heart on the wrong side of
her chest and isn't too concerned with figuring out how to employ
it. Small's father is a radiologist and practices his craft on a
six-year old David in the basement. The dominant family
characteristic is silence, and a crazy grandmother does not make
things any better for our young hero. When David develops a cyst in
his neck at age 11, he will end up losing more than his voice.
Small's art, though, is what elevates the graphic novel form and
turns the story into a grand weeper. The black and white treatment,
accentuated with expert light and shade, becomes a deft
illumination of a young boy's growing confusion and evaporating
innocence. Small's panel-to-panel juxtapositions are especially
arresting as evocative incisions into the cruel, adult world into
which David is being hurdled. The best literature surprises and
makes the human story fresh again. Small's memoir will hurt you a
little, but ultimately renew your faith in the human powers of
resilience and imagination.
- Robert Stapleton is assistant professor of English at Butler
University.