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Lynda Barry
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What It Is Hardcover – Illustrated, May 13, 2008

by Lynda Barry (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 728 ratings
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  1. Will Eisner Comic Industry AwardsWinner, 2009
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"Deliciously drawn (with fragments of collage worked into each page), insightful and bubbling with delight in the process of artistic creation. A+" -Salon

How do objects summon memories? What do real images feel like? For decades, these types of questions have permeated the pages of Lynda Barry's compositions, with words attracting pictures and conjuring places through a pen that first and foremost keeps on moving. What It Is demonstrates a tried-and-true creative method that is playful, powerful, and accessible to anyone with an inquisitive wish to write or to remember. Composed of completely new material, each page of Barry's first Drawn & Quarterly book is a full-color collage that is not only a gentle guide to this process but an invigorating example of exactly what it is: "The ordinary is extraordinary."

Previous page
  1. Part of Series
    What It Is
  2. Print length
    209 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Publisher
    Drawn and Quarterly
  5. Publication date
    May 13, 2008
  6. Dimensions
    8.64 x 0.98 x 10.99 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    9781897299357
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1897299357
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–Every so often a book comes along that surpasses expectations, taking readers on an inspirational voyage that they don't want to leave. This is one such book. Each page is a feast for the eyes with beautiful full-page collages of photographs, watercolors, ink drawings, and text, resulting in a gorgeous volume that explores and encourages writing in a combination of ways. The author challenges readers with philosophical questions to ponder, such as What is an image? Where are they found? Can we remember something we can't imagine? The volume also acts as a workbook that successfully encourages teens to explore their own creativity through writing. In addition, autobiographical glimpses of Barry's journey from childhood to adulthood appear throughout the book. The struggles and obstacles she faces while following her path of becoming an artist and writer allow readers to believe in the possibility of writing themselves. This stunning book will appeal to those teens who are interested in delving into their creativity through words and art. The questions posed and valuable exercises that exist within its pages, along with the illustrations, could also make this book a valuable tool for English and art teachers in the classroom.–Lara McAllister, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Praise for Lynda Barry:
“Barry is, underneath the wonky handwriting and the quirky, naïve drawings, a great memoirist . . . Like [Tobias] Wolff and [Dave] Eggers, she finds a tone that accommodates self-criticism and self-irony without tipping over into self-loathing . . . but what she is particularly good at is resonance.” —"The New York Times
" “Barry is not just a storyteller, she’s an evangelist who urges people to pick up a pen—or a brush . . . and look at their own lives with fresh, forgiving eyes.” —"San Francisco Chronicle
" “America’s leading cartoon artist of childhood angst . . . The precise rightness of Barry’s smallest observation puts TV’s "The Wonder Years" to shame.” —"Entertainment Weekly
"

Praise for Lynda Barry:
"Barry is, underneath the wonky handwriting and the quirky, naive drawings, a great memoirist . . . Like [Tobias] Wolff and [Dave] Eggers, she finds a tone that accommodates self-criticism and self-irony without tipping over into self-loathing . . . but what she is particularly good at is resonance." --"The New York Times
" "Barry is not just a storyteller, she's an evangelist who urges people to pick up a pen--or a brush . . . and look at their own lives with fresh, forgiving eyes." --"San Francisco Chronicle
" "America's leading cartoon artist of childhood angst . . . The precise rightness of Barry's smallest observation puts TV's "The Wonder Years" to shame." --"Entertainment Weekly
"

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1897299354
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Drawn and Quarterly; Illustrated edition (May 13, 2008)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 209 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9781897299357
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1897299357
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.64 x 0.98 x 10.99 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 728 ratings

About the author

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Lynda Barry

Lynda Barry

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
728 global ratings
1 of a kind book
5 Stars
1 of a kind book
I absolutely loved this book! I literally read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down! Every single page is thought provoking in what is written but also about the artwork. I only included 1 photo of a small portion of one of the pages to show just how much detail was put into one corner of a page. Now imagine what the rest of this book contains 👀
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Top reviews from the United States

Aunt M
5.0 out of 5 stars Wow!
Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2023
Verified Purchase
This book is stunning. Page after page of art, confessions, insights, instruction, and questions -- it is creative genius. I am pausing on each page to savor the artistic details and the window into Barry's creative process. I am in awe. Writers, artists, creatives of all types, get this book. You will identify with it; you will learn from it; you will love it!
2 people found this helpful
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RG
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible book and manual for accessing our individual creativity
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2015
Verified Purchase
I bought this book because I was fortunate enough to see Lynda Barry speak, and her message was so powerful and inspiring. This book is amazing, complex, and very nuanced as she guides the reader through her creative process through the lens of imagination and memory. Barry has spent the last 40 years of her career pondering the question, "What is an image?" and this book is a fabulous journey through her own creative process and how she accesses her own creativity.

This book is particularly meaningful to me because I haven't drawn anything since I dropped out of graduate school about fifteen years ago; a sad death of my own creativity that was once integral to my self-image, and I haven't been able to reclaim. I feel like a cherished part of myself is still stuck somewhere in time, preserved like a fly in resin that has fossilized into amber, an artifact of an earlier self that still feels alive in some respects. Barry's work explores these artifacts and how images and memory offer insight into our experience.

When I was young, I loved art and images so much that I had dreams of becoming an artist. I discovered Barry's comics when I was 13 years old, and I found her work to be fascinating and something that I identified with very strongly. Barry's work, "What It Is", courageous and at times confessional in nature and raw, shows us that self-expression and creativity are fundamental to the human experience, and that it's accessible by ordinary people, too. At Barry's urging, I am drawing in the margins, during meetings at work, and reconnecting with the story that is mine alone to tell. With clarity and loving-kindness, she took her hand in mine and said, "Don't let the architecture bastards win." Her courage to connect with her own experience and earlier selves and memories, is a formidable example to others how our shared humanity can be accessed through images and the arts.

Thank you, Lynda Barry.
50 people found this helpful
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larry
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book
Reviewed in the United States on April 16, 2024
Verified Purchase
Didn’t know what to expect but turns out to be a very intriguing book, deeper than it seems, with wonderful graphics laid out so as to keep the reader interested all the way through. A puzzle for the mind.
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Parka
5.0 out of 5 stars Elaborately and creatively decorated
Reviewed in the United States on August 2, 2009
Verified Purchase
The media could not be loaded.
 This book screamed "Buy me!" when I saw it at the Drawn & Quarterly booth at San Diego Comic Con 2009. It is that good!

With a brush in the right hand, and a pencil on the left, the multi-eyed monster on the back cover spoked, "Welcome to writing the unthinkable". That's the essence of this book created by Lynda Barry, putting vivid imagination onto paper.

What It Is is a scrapbook that's filled to the brim with sketches, coloured illustrations, collages, comics, autobiographical writing, random thoughts and even a bit on creative writing.

Every page is elaborately decorated, an exploration into the unknown realms of imagination. And every page is just fun to look at.

This book is creativity and self expression, great for flipping through when you're feeling random or looking for inspiration.

I'll give this book two thumbs (drawn with smiley faces) up.

By the way, What It Is won the 2009 Eisner award for Best Reality-Based Work, but I didn't know that when I bought it. It's also one of the top 100 books picked by Amazon editors for 2008.

(More pictures are available on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)
27 people found this helpful
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Chris bct
4.0 out of 5 stars I wanna love all her work but this goes deep into whatever she wants to do
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2013
Verified Purchase
It's a journey that I can't quite follow on. I'm glad I bought it. What I really want tho is the brilliant collections of cartoons of her various child characters, self, sister, brother, parents. I could read that stuff forever. This book takes you into a place that she enjoys being, I'm assuming, and it is done in a very unorthodox manner, utilizing pictures of post it notes and many hand written little notes, like that she took them in a writing class which I think she tells us she did. I'm not sure I'm ever going to plunge back into it again. The collections of small comic strips of hers I can go back to any year and still laugh out loud and smile and point to whoever's around and tell 'em, "Look at this!" Memorable. This book, well, I'm trying to give you a warning, it ain't those comic strip collections by a long shot. ciao bella and God bless cuz life is like a mist, gone quickly and then...then what? eternity apparently!
2 people found this helpful
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Bethany
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 of a kind book
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2022
Verified Purchase
I absolutely loved this book! I literally read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down! Every single page is thought provoking in what is written but also about the artwork. I only included 1 photo of a small portion of one of the pages to show just how much detail was put into one corner of a page. Now imagine what the rest of this book contains 👀
Customer image
Bethany
5.0 out of 5 stars 1 of a kind book
Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2022
I absolutely loved this book! I literally read it in one sitting because I couldn’t put it down! Every single page is thought provoking in what is written but also about the artwork. I only included 1 photo of a small portion of one of the pages to show just how much detail was put into one corner of a page. Now imagine what the rest of this book contains 👀
Images in this review
Customer image
Customer image
11 people found this helpful
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Mardell J Milligan
5.0 out of 5 stars Great reference book for those seeking inspiration to write their own creative book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2023
Verified Purchase
I ordered this book as a reference for an online creative writing notebook class. The book is a top quality "hard copy" book and is full of many different styles and techniques. I really enjoyed it, and it will always be kept on my bookshelf to explore and inspire different ways to creatively write.
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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L
5.0 out of 5 stars Sorprendente
Reviewed in Spain on October 3, 2023
Verified Purchase
Un libro sorprendente. En inglés pero no es difícil de comprender con un nivel medio ;)
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Du bist was du liest
5.0 out of 5 stars Wunderbares insprierendes Buch
Reviewed in Germany on October 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
Mir wurde dieses Buch bei einem Kurs empfohlen. Ich finde es sehr inspirierend, man entdeckt immer wieder etwas neues darin. Für kreative Menschen sehr gut geeignet. Es ist wie ein bewusstseinsstrom in gemalter Form. :)
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Guénolée Lebon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent livre
Reviewed in France on June 5, 2020
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Magnifique et inspirant!
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Douglas Teixeira
3.0 out of 5 stars Confuso
Reviewed in Brazil on October 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
Algumas partes do livro são bem interessantes e provocantes, mas a maior parte do conteúdo é confusa e poluída. Muitas coisas (algumas vezes desconexas) acontecendo em cada página.
2 people found this helpful
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MF
5.0 out of 5 stars I went to the same university as Lynda Barry, ...
Reviewed in Canada on January 30, 2017
Verified Purchase
I went to the same university as Lynda Barry, and some of the lessons in this book help refresh things I learned from Marilyn and Mark at Evergreen.. plus some new discoveries. I keep coming back to this book when I need to refresh my creative well.
One person found this helpful
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