Pretending is lying

This is another semi-autobiographical, non-linear work that I’ve been meaning to read for a while, & I’m so glad I did. Dominique Goblet’s graphic novel is really unlike anything I’ve seen before in its alternating wistfulness, chaotic playfulness, & depth. When Dominique visits her estranged, (ex-?)alcoholic father in a Belgian suburb along with her young daughter Nikita, her memories of a complex romantic relationship & childhood abuse begin to resurface, playing out in vignettes of varying length. The book explores dysfunction, authority, innocence, vulnerability, & irony through brief but poignantly emblematic anecdotes, all rendered in a fluid & shadowy style, thanks to Goblet’s use of soft graphite & oil paint.https://www.catranslation.org/blog-post/what-were-reading-for-summer-2023/ Pretending Is Lying Is A Memoir Unlike Any Other. The First Book To Appear In English By The Acclaimed Belgian Artist Dominique Goblet, It Is At Once An Intimate Account Of Love And Familial Dysfunction And An Audacious Experiment In Graphic Storytelling. In A Series Of Dazzling Fragments--skipping Through Time, And From Raw, Slashing Color To Delicate Black And White--goblet Examines The Most Important Relationships In Her Life: With Her Partner, Guy-marc; With Her Daughter, Nikita; With Her Alcoholic, Well-meaning Father; And With Her Abusive Mother. More Than A Decade In The Making, The Result Is An Unnerving Comedy Of Paternal Dysfunction, An Achingly Ambivalent Love Story (with Asides On The Beach Boys), And A Searing Account Of Childhood Trauma--a Dizzying, Unforgettable View Of A Life In Progress And A Tour De Force Of The Art Of Comics-- Dominique Goblet ; Translated By Sophie Yanow. "Pretending Is Lying is a memoir unlike any other. The first book to appear in English by the acclaimed Belgian artist Dominique Goblet, it is at once an intimate account of love and familial dysfunction and an audacious experiment in graphic storytelling. In a series of dazzling fragments--skipping through time, and from raw, slashing color to delicate black and white--Goblet examines the most important relationships in her life: with her partner, Guy-Marc; with her daughter, Nikita; with her alcoholic, well-meaning father; and with her abusive mother. More than a decade in the making, the result is an unnerving comedy of paternal dysfunction, an achingly ambivalent love story (with asides on the Beach Boys), and a searing account of childhood trauma--a dizzying, unforgettable view of a life in progress and a tour de force of the art of comics"-- Provided by publisher The first book to appear in English by the acclaimed Belgian artist Dominique Goblet, Pretending is Lying is a memoir unlike any other. In a series of dazzling fragments-skipping through time, and from raw, slashing color to delicate black and white-Goblet examines the most important relationships in her life: with her partner, Guy Marc; with her daughter, Nikita; and with her parents. The result is an unnerving comedy of paternal dysfunction, an achingly ambivalent love story (with asides on Thomas Pynchon and the Beach Boys), and a searing account of childhood trauma-a dizzying, unforgettable view of a life in progress and a tour de force of the art of comics.