OVER the weekend, I devoured Derf Backderf’s My Friend Dahmer – almost quicker than I would have liked! This intimate portrait of the young serial killer is at once sympathetic to his unfortunate circumstances and condemning of his actions.
TO be totally honest, I have been having dreams about high school for days since I finished it. Backderf conjures up a world so rich and intimate that you almost feel as though you were right there in the Class of ’78 with him. He shows side-by-side the ordinary trivialities of teenage suffering and the ripening of a twisted mind. The blocky, lumpy figures without distinction reminded me of the way that all the people and faces of my high school years blur into a mass of obscurity.
EVEN if serial killers and graphic novels aren’t your usual jam, My Friend Dahmer is gripping and engaging. Fans of Ghost World or Jeffrey Brown must read!
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