Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes

by Jon Macy

A graphic biography of Djuna Barnes: writer, artist, and queer radical of the Lost Generation in the Roaring 20s.

Nominated for two Eisner awards. Best reality based work. Best Writer/Artist.

Djuna Barnes lived in a dazzling world filled with literary salons, innovative writing, and daring new art styles. But it didn’t come easily. She managed to work her way out of an abusive childhood growing up in a polygamous rural utopian community on Long Island. She was determined to live an extraordinary life, and found herself socializing with the likes of James Joyce, Natalie Barney, Peggy Guggenheim, and T.S. Eliot in 1920s literary Paris. Called the most famous unknown of the century, Djuna Barnes stood out for her brilliant writing, her biting wit, and her unique style. Her novel Nightwood is considered by some to be one of the greatest lesbian love stories ever written. But as the stock market crashed and the Lost Generation left Paris, her life began to unwind.

A fascinating window into the life of a woman whose enormous literary talent and provocative attitude were both celebrated and disdained by the world.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Biography, Comics, Nonfiction, LGBT, History, Graphic Novels Comics

320 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2024

About the author

Jon is the author of Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes.(Nominated for two Eisner awards. Best reality based work. Best writer/artist.) His graphic novels include Teleny and Camille, an adaptation of the anonymous novel Teleny, (Lambda 2010) and Fearful Hunter, a Queer fantasy romance that explores sacred sexuality. He is a notorious recluse.

Reviews

[Alwynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic biography of queer writer and author Djuna Barnes best known for her 1930s novel Nightwood since hailed as a modernist classic – praised by authors like Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot, and William Burroughs. Jon Macy sketches out the key aspects of Barnes’s tumultuous, singular life. Barnes grew up in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century, in a commune founded by her grandmother who espoused free love and radical alternatives to the traditional, nuclear family. But, despite her grandmother’s lofty ideals, the reality for Barnes bordered on abusive. She traded one form of abuse for another when she left for New York with her brothers and ultra-conventional mother who increasingly relied on Barnes for their upkeep. Her mother seems to have been remarkably skilled at finding ways to make Barnes feel inferior and faulty.

Macy painstakingly chronicles Barnes’s career beginning with her stint as a journalist who often lived her stories, fearlessly performing stunts, immersing herself in her material. She developed ties to Greenwich Village bohemians, spent time with James Joyce and Eugene O’Neill and hung out with Dadaist artists. But Barnes’s burning ambition was to become an artist and writer in her own right. A chance encounter with heiress, and art collector, Peggy Guggenheim provided a way forward, leading her to Paris where Guggenheim’s patronage enabled Barnes’s creative projects. In 1920s Paris Barnes became known as lesbian ‘it’ girl, celebrated for her unique sense of style and acid wit. She moved in and out of overlapping literary circles. She was close with renowned New Yorker writer Janet Flanner and novelist Ernest Hemingway; was welcomed into Natalie Barney’s and artist Romaine Brooks’s sapphic circle; attended Gertrude Stein’s cultural gatherings; and hung out with dancer Isadora Duncan. All the while caught up in a tempestuous love affair with artist Thelma Wood.

Macy follows Barnes’s rise and fall, from her French glory days to her final years as a New York recluse, surviving on handouts from old friends. Barnes’s retreat from the world was briefly interrupted towards the end of her life when academics, and members of New York’s queer communities rediscovered Nightwood and embraced her as a groundbreaking writer and icon. Macy’s biography is clearly a labour of love, based on years of research. An award-winning writer and activist who centres queer topics and themes, his artwork’s lucid and often arresting. Here he works in black-and-white with dashes of muted colour, often referencing Barnes’s own art which was strongly influenced by Aubrey Beardsley’s style. As an overview of Barnes’s life and work, I thought this was largely successful, often evocative. I did have some minor quibbles and queries which probably relate to editing for instance publisher Faber & Faber is referred to as ‘Farber & Farber.’ And I was a bit confused about the death of Barnes’s partner Mary Pyne, here attributed to Spanish Flu, elsewhere to TB. I also found the abrupt shifts between Barnes’s past and present confusing at times.

Thanks to Edelweiss and publisher Street Noise Books for an ARC

[Laura Scalzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The breadth and depth of this book is astonishing. Well-researched but more than that--the writing, the artwork, and the integration of it all. I'm in awe. You could spend an hour in every panel though I was too compelled by the sharp storytelling to slow down . . . I plan to reread it immediately.

[Ed Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Djuna Barnes lived an interesting life. As with the curse "May you live in interesting times", it wasn't always pleasant. Her grandmother ran a free-love commune, encouraging her father to marry and have children with two wives, and an untold number of other women. Djuna's first lover died in the 1918 flu epidemic, and her second lover was a handful. Though part of the group of Americans in Paris in the 1920s, she is eclipsed in memory by others from that group. I've read very little of her writings, and don't feel much need to change that, but I enjoyed learning about her life.

[Miranda Poswiatowsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've never heard of Djuna Barnes before reading this. She us absolutely fascinating!

[Tor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Djuna Barnes so much

[jude · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this!! a good, thorough biography of a fascinating person i had never heard of. there were some confusing time jumps... the book is overall pretty chronological, but there would be random flashbacks that i didn't feel needed to be flashbacks--they could have just taken place at the beginning. but overall, it's a pretty smooth read.

[Rose Jeanou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable graphic memoir of Djuna Barnes’ life! I’m a big Djuna fan, but I think this would be a good primer for people who wouldn’t necessarily vibe with Djuna’s hyper Modernist baroque style…

[Chlodudu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un peu didactique par moment mais j’ai aimé découvrir la vie de Djuna Barnes et surtout le milieu d’avant-garde littéraire et artistique dans lequel elle évoluait à Paris et sa relation avec Thelma Wood (je préviens : c’est triste et ça finit mal, pauvre Djuna)

[Rachael · Rating 5 out of 5]

adore

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of thoughtful details and delightful flourishes. The author’s dedication and enthusiasm comes through every panel. I don’t keep many books, nor do I buy them by the yard ;) I had intended to pass my copy along to my daughters, but I can’t bear to part with it, so they’ll each get their own. I’m sure I will notice more wonderful details each time I read it. Thank you, Jon Macy.

[Sofia Guyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for my extended essay

[kaitlphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wild ride through the life of Djuna Barnes. She had a very rough childhood, a number of romances, did quite a bit of traveling, and met a whole lot of people. There were enough people that I would have benefitted from a glossary of characters. The book made it seem like she only wrote a few novels, but the bibliography listed a large number of her works. I appreciated the two-color artwork and how the red was used almost exclusively for her hair.

[Raven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is a romantic trip of the highlights of Djuna Barnes life. If her father was a manchild, she was a womanchild. Her hedonistic needs trumped all other things. Her love was writing and her physical lovers would come and go. Male and female would bed her, her first love leaving America due to anti-German sentiments, being Bohemian ruled, another dying of the Spanish flu. One of her best friends would be called by one patron at a party, “The Baroness of Obstreperous.” The book is not an easy read. While the content is not gratuitous, it is also over-the-top, dramatic, salacious. And the artwork! Let me say that they are just as odd as the rest of things. Mostly black and white with the color red being used to show you Djuna (her flaming red hair) and a few other things. Things do not look fleshed out, but more sketches of what is to come (though this could partly be because it is a reader's copy, however, I've read enough from this publisher to know they do go more artistic). They are just as important as the story, but mostly there to allow you to focus on our subject and those around her and the things around her which are there to support her. Due in early October 2024, Street Noise Books has smacked you upside the head with another powerful read by Jon Macy (or JL Macy, I’ve seen both) and .

[Grace Stafford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful artwork, well-researched, and a captivating story. Jon Macy did a wonderful job here illuminating Djuna Barnes as a prominent, if oft forgotten, modernist author. This shot Nightwood up on my TBR, just in time for a trip to Paris.

Thank you to Edelweiss for the review copy!

[Micha Goebig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly well executed but hard to follow if you’re not already familiar with Djuna Barnes’s life story

[Lauri-Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unbelievably good!

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

As a sort of biography, this works fine: we get an idea of the people and events that shaped her life and created the unique person that she was in the first half of the 20th century. At the same time, I never really felt that I got to know the person and instead felt like I was looking at her from the outside and through the eyes of everyone around her. Even the title of the book creates an impression of an object rather than a human being.

The story is fairly chronological though does skip around a bit. The running theme is the fame that constantly eluded her yet seemed to be whimsically bestrewed on the less talented around her. Whether in journalism, art, or literature, she would always come up just a bit short. Yet at its heart, the book is a tribute to a remarkably distinct and unyielding personality who created her own path despite (or in spite) of a very unusual childhood.

To draw upon this biography, a lot of what we know about Djuna comes from her books: each were thinly veiled stories of her childhood and the abuses suffered by growing up in a cult-like commune society. Her grandmother was a strong personality, her father raised to be a gift to humanity but instead buckling under the pressure/responsibility, and her mother bitter over being shackled to a directionless, out-of-work, polygamist. Leaving that family never meant separation: they would seek to siphon off her successes while celebrating her failures throughout her life.

The artwork is serviceable but perhaps a part of the disenfranchisement issue: Djuna wafts through the book rather than anchors it. She is a two color nebulous presence wearing the same clothes (from a famous photograph) throughout the years. Perhaps it was meant to create a bit of mystery about an enigmatic figure but instead makes her seem like a ghost in her own life.

In all, it was fascinating to read about this forgotten figure in history but I wish the story wasn't so removed and sensationalist, told almost as if through gossips rather than facts. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Djuna: The Extraordinary Life of Djuna Barnes is a masterpiece of storytelling and visual artistry! Jon Macy has created a biography that feels alive, unpredictable, and deeply personal, weaving in some autobiographical elements that give the narrative a fresh and intimate touch. I found myself truly looking forward to the times when I could crack open the book and visit Djuna's world.

Djuna Barnes is an exciting subject—a figure I loved, hated, and envied all at once. Mr. Macy captures her brilliance, complexity, and passions with masterful precision, bringing her to life in a way that made me feel as if I were walking through her cobblestoned world wearing her pumps.

As usual with Mr. Macy's work, the artwork in this book is dynamic and alive. The bold yet restrained use of red accenting the black line work adds a vibrant, dramatic energy that perfectly complements Djuna's fire and darkness. The visual storytelling is so rich and layered that I found myself lingering on each page, taking in the details.

This is more an immersive experience than just a biography. Mr. Macy’s masterful blend of art and narrative elevates Djuna's already fascinating story, making it a must-read for fans of queer history, literary icons, and anyone who loves a "difficult" woman. Highly recommended!

[Sonya Saturday · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Djuna” is a biography of a nearly forgotten writer from a century ago, whose life feels freer and more forward looking than those of many writers today, thanks to this wonderfully realized portrait. Using stark black & white artwork with limited colors, Jon Macy creates a world that is suffocating and inescapable, yet also full of possibilities and opportunities, if only Djuna could make the right choices with the right people. I loved this book, and I've sent copies to friends and family members. I would have liked to have learned more about the motivations of some of the side characters (a couple of Djuna's exes in particular), but maybe I'll find those answers if I were to finally read some of Djuna Barnes's work. I definitely recommend curious readers check out this book. They'll find it to be a fascinating and highly rewarding read.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't read many graphic novels and was intrigued by this one about Djuna Barnes as I'd never heard of her. However, I feel Macy did her a disservice by trying to cover her entire life in one graphic novel. The book left me with more questions about her than answers. It works as a nice over view with some details about the childhood abuse and lesbian lifestyle she lived. I loved meeting other authors and artists of the time through this graphic novel, but I felt it tried to cover too much time. I also found the art a little odd as sometimes I wasn't sure who was speaking, and other times the characters looked interchangeable.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

A graphic novel biography about a queer writer from the first half of the 20th century who has largely been forgotten even though she traveled in the same circles as Hemmingway. T.S. Elliot and Peggy Guggenheim. She lived a very unconventional life made more so by her attitude later in life. It's an interesting story. It's just one that I often felt disconnected to because of the writing style.

[DavidP · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book. I thought it was clear how much admiration and love the author has for the subject. And as someone who wasn’t familiar with Djuna Barnes going into this I was endlessly fascinated by her life and personality. I can’t believe that she isn’t more well known and hopefully this skillfully illustrated and researched graphic leads others to discover her and her work.
I think it’s an important read.

[Harold Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I didn’t know much at all about Djuna Barns going into this book, writer and artist Jon Macy managed to give insight to the artistic socialite. The art in this graphic novel is understated and yet captures so much of each scene Macy tries to convey. If you’re looking for insight on an under represented person in queer history, I suggest picking up this book.

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, Djuna Barnes’ life was certainly extraordinary - and always fascinating and fabulous and tragically self-destructive. Lost a star because it was often difficult to tell the characters apart visually, and the jagged timeline was a little confusing.

[Rodney Golberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic. I was unfamiliar with Djuna Barnes. Now, after reading Jon's incredible book, I need to know more. Beautifully written and illustrated, I would highly recommend this book. Thanks, Jon, for creating this absolutely moving portrait.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

I blurbed for this book:

Jon Macy's beguiling graphics perfectly capture the tempestuous life of Djuna Barnes, in all its decadence and tenderness, despair and ambition, suffering and transcendence. I was completely enthralled.

I meant every word, it's just so good, so fascinating.

[Diego Gómez · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a good read! I just finished it - I’ve been busy since I bought it and kept thinking “I’d rather be reading Djuna…” 😅 I had to lookup several words 🤓 - Djuna is the most infamous woman many of us have never heard about! 🔥

[K.C. Norton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is such an interesting book, and I'm glad I read it--Djuna sounds like an exhausting icon. I had never heard of her before. I did not always love the execution of this book, though, and felt like the author made some very strange choices in terms of the presentation.

[AnnaRose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned about so many fascinating people from this! I wrote them down and look forward to learning more!

Characters - 5 stars
Plot - 4 stars
Setting - 4.5 stars
Writing style - 4.5 stars
Ending - 3.75 stars

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book by a consistently great author! <3