Tuesday, May 6, 2008

new jersey local boy = literary bad boy

growing up in oakland, new jersey, who knew someone from our boring suburban enclave would become such a literary bad boy? maybe you don't know him, but you should... jonathan ames.
a graduate of indian hills high school (though he graduated several years before me), jonathan ames has become quite the literary star (and he was almost a TV star on showtime but the pilot didn't expand into a series)... now he's delving into the graphic novel format (with illustrator dean haspiel who illlustrated the quitter by harvey pekar, an amazing story)... i couldn't be happier! see a recent story/other illustration collaboration "next door neighborless" here.

more about mr. ames on wikipedia... thanks for making new jersey proud... and showing that the typical suburban upbringing is not so predictable!
here in a publishers weekly article, he discusses his new book:

The Alcoholic ended up as a graphic novel (published by Vertigo, which recently announced a plan to put more focus on original graphic novels) through Ames's friendship with artist Dean Haspiel, a fellow Brooklynite. "I was sitting in a cafe in Brooklyn,” Ames said, “and he came up and introduced himself to me, said he was a fan of my writing, and then we fell in love, and eventually adopted several children. We were kind of like Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, except nobody knew it," Ames joked. More seriously, he added, "After meeting at the cafe, we became friends. One of those rare after-age-35 new friendships."

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