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The Incantations of Daniel Johnston
"[The Incantations of Daniel Johnston] captures Johnston's visions—both artistic and hallucinatory—in an intensely colorful cartoonish style and vivid recurring images: frogs, cascades of pills, volcanoes, eyeballs of many varieties."
—John Williams, New York Times Book Review
"Cavolo’s art is lush, cartoonish, and red, red, red—the better to illustrate Johnston’s giant heart and big, big love for all the girls in his life who already have boyfriends. [The Incantations of Daniel Johnston] acknowledges the odd ways that society constructs culture and celebrity and how hard it can be to fully capture a life, especially when that person is famous, or “cult famous,” as the case may be. But as McClanahan and Cavolo struggle to show the heart of a man who himself struggles to make art and live his life, they show their hearts as well—big, red, and beating."
—A.V. Club
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston is a spirited, eye-popping collaborationg between New York Times-bestselling Spanish artist Ricardo Cavolo and award-winning author Scott McClanahan.
Long a fan of Daniel Johnston, the man and his music, Cavolo illustrates Johnston's colorful life, from his humble beginnings as a carnival employee to folk musician in Austin, to his rise to MTV popularity and persistent struggle with personal demons.
In addition to being visually very striking, with astoundingly economical prose McClanahan manages to deal with powerful and complex issues, such as how we as a society mythologize troubled artists, while continuing his ongoing exploration of human relationships, and the pliable interaction between reader and writer.
—John Williams, New York Times Book Review
"Cavolo’s art is lush, cartoonish, and red, red, red—the better to illustrate Johnston’s giant heart and big, big love for all the girls in his life who already have boyfriends. [The Incantations of Daniel Johnston] acknowledges the odd ways that society constructs culture and celebrity and how hard it can be to fully capture a life, especially when that person is famous, or “cult famous,” as the case may be. But as McClanahan and Cavolo struggle to show the heart of a man who himself struggles to make art and live his life, they show their hearts as well—big, red, and beating."
—A.V. Club
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston is a spirited, eye-popping collaborationg between New York Times-bestselling Spanish artist Ricardo Cavolo and award-winning author Scott McClanahan.
Long a fan of Daniel Johnston, the man and his music, Cavolo illustrates Johnston's colorful life, from his humble beginnings as a carnival employee to folk musician in Austin, to his rise to MTV popularity and persistent struggle with personal demons.
In addition to being visually very striking, with astoundingly economical prose McClanahan manages to deal with powerful and complex issues, such as how we as a society mythologize troubled artists, while continuing his ongoing exploration of human relationships, and the pliable interaction between reader and writer.
136 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 2016
About the author
Scott McClanahan
23 books554 followersScott McClanahan (born June 24, 1978) is an American writer, filmmaker, and martial artist. He lives in Beckley, West Virginia and is the author of eight books. His most recent book, The Sarah Book, was featured in Rolling Stone, Village Voice, and Playboy. NPR called the book "brave, triumphant and beautiful — it reads like a fever dream, and it feels like a miracle." McClanahan is also a co-founder of Holler Presents, a West Virginia-based production and small press company.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
September 12, 2019
RIP Daniel Johnston, 1961-2019:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/11/entert...
"Carpenters are bipolar too, but it doesn't help them build better houses."
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston is one of my favorite books so far this year. It is one wild and crazy illustrated biography of bipolar musician and comics artist Johnston, who once was an improbable MTV favorite in the eighties. It’s not a happy story, and it’s not a straightforward biography, thank god, because to make it that way would not be consistent with the madness and creative spirit through which Johnston burned and crashed. I knew nothing about Johnston before picking this up, so I have a little catching up to do. I still haven’t read any of his comics or seen the (more straightforward, I am told) film documentary. But here’s a couple songs I found on YouTube.
Daniel Johnston, “True Love Will Find You in the End”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7ly...
I Live My Broken Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICLXH...
This story is about madness, bipolarity, mental hospitals, music and MTV, psychotic breakdowns, demonic obsessions and an improbable rise to fame. It’s also about the limitations of making a biography of mental illness, because how can we get “in” to that mind? But McClanahan (the writer) and Cavolo (the artist) sure try, in their way, though they admit it’s as much about them as it is about him. "For every story told about someone else is about the person who is telling it."
It’s a love letter more than a biography, and why not?
The art is actually much better than the writing, but to tell you the truth,
it's a warning not to get to close to madness because you just might get swallowed up by it.
It’s an invitation to live the creative life.
It’s a kind of prayer.
Thanks to avant garde Two Dollar Radio press for publishing this transgressive colorful (mostly red) story.
It’s less a comics memoir than it is an illustrated story; no real dialogue, but it still feels vivid.
"It's all a lie. There will be no happy endings waiting for any of us. There are only the stories we tell ourselves about shooting stars in the sky."
I loved this not because it is not a biography such as Richard Ellman’s Joyce (which I loved), but because it is original, fresh, alive.
https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/11/entert...
"Carpenters are bipolar too, but it doesn't help them build better houses."
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston is one of my favorite books so far this year. It is one wild and crazy illustrated biography of bipolar musician and comics artist Johnston, who once was an improbable MTV favorite in the eighties. It’s not a happy story, and it’s not a straightforward biography, thank god, because to make it that way would not be consistent with the madness and creative spirit through which Johnston burned and crashed. I knew nothing about Johnston before picking this up, so I have a little catching up to do. I still haven’t read any of his comics or seen the (more straightforward, I am told) film documentary. But here’s a couple songs I found on YouTube.
Daniel Johnston, “True Love Will Find You in the End”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ma7ly...
I Live My Broken Dreams
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICLXH...
This story is about madness, bipolarity, mental hospitals, music and MTV, psychotic breakdowns, demonic obsessions and an improbable rise to fame. It’s also about the limitations of making a biography of mental illness, because how can we get “in” to that mind? But McClanahan (the writer) and Cavolo (the artist) sure try, in their way, though they admit it’s as much about them as it is about him. "For every story told about someone else is about the person who is telling it."
It’s a love letter more than a biography, and why not?
The art is actually much better than the writing, but to tell you the truth,
it's a warning not to get to close to madness because you just might get swallowed up by it.
It’s an invitation to live the creative life.
It’s a kind of prayer.
Thanks to avant garde Two Dollar Radio press for publishing this transgressive colorful (mostly red) story.
It’s less a comics memoir than it is an illustrated story; no real dialogue, but it still feels vivid.
"It's all a lie. There will be no happy endings waiting for any of us. There are only the stories we tell ourselves about shooting stars in the sky."
I loved this not because it is not a biography such as Richard Ellman’s Joyce (which I loved), but because it is original, fresh, alive.
May 20, 2016
It’s hard to write a review of this book because my reaction to it is so personal. It’s like someone broke into my brain and made the book I always wanted to see in the world. Ricardo Cavolo is the artist of my dreams and Scott McClanahan is the writer of my dreams and Daniel Johnston is the eye floating above a pyramid on the back of a dollar bill. I can only say that as I read this book I felt queasy and like I was floating. It reminded me of being a kid in Beaverton, Oregon, drawing a thousand drawings and writing a thousand stories on the green carpet of my childhood bedroom, drawings and stories that my mom found, and after that I had to see a psychologist. See, it’s too personal. I guess what I’m trying to say is five stars. Thanks Ricardo. Thanks Scott. Thanks Daniel. God bless your troubled hearts.
August 28, 2016
An engaging journey into the dark mind/illuminated heart that is Daniel Johnston. But watch out for the part when you become Daniel!
July 25, 2016
A steam roller, visually and spiritually. I was reading this really shitty Beatles biography in the lobby of this motel and I was having such a crappy time with The Beatles biography but then I realized that in the bottom of my suitcase, I had this killer art mashup about Daniel and about his music and illness and his family and his troubles. I put the Beatles biography back on the table and switched books. I was waiting for the rain to stop and for the taxi cab to come. And just when the rain stopped and the taxi can showed up, I'd read The Incantations of Daniel J, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again. It's a glorious book. The Beatles book belonged to the motel so it went back on the table instead of the trash can where it belonged.
June 29, 2016
What can anyone ever say about The Incantations of Daniel Johnston?!
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston isn't about Daniel Johnston. It isn't really about mental illness, or cult-celebrity, or any of that tomfoolery either. It's sorta about Scott McClanahan -- who isn't even real, really. It's a bit of a love note from Spanish artist Ricardo Cavolo to Daniel Johnston, but only a little. Mostly, the book is about you, reading Goodreads right now, and the battle of good versus evil, and being free or being cursed by life...sometimes both at the same time. It's about art in a way, but mainly because it IS art...vivid, in-those-moments-before sleep-or-waking kind of art. It's beautiful. And you're made more beautiful for having seen it. This is barely a book, and yet such the same vital thing as a book can be. It's the kind of thing to make you curious about people, curious about the past, about the present, the future, curious about the hows and the whys of life. The Two Dollar Radio folks say it's a graphic novel...that it's "biography | music" but I don't know. It's something...it sure is something. Certainly it's a thing you won't see much in this world: it's a warning and a prayer, it's a certain kind of feeling put down in pages, and in beautifully stinky ink. You'll find yourself in the book, and wonder how you got in there when you know nothing of Daniel Johnston or Scott McClanahan or Ricardo Cavolo...a part of yourself that you'll think, "hey, where have you been so long?" and be glad that you finally have it back.
The Incantations of Daniel Johnston isn't about Daniel Johnston. It isn't really about mental illness, or cult-celebrity, or any of that tomfoolery either. It's sorta about Scott McClanahan -- who isn't even real, really. It's a bit of a love note from Spanish artist Ricardo Cavolo to Daniel Johnston, but only a little. Mostly, the book is about you, reading Goodreads right now, and the battle of good versus evil, and being free or being cursed by life...sometimes both at the same time. It's about art in a way, but mainly because it IS art...vivid, in-those-moments-before sleep-or-waking kind of art. It's beautiful. And you're made more beautiful for having seen it. This is barely a book, and yet such the same vital thing as a book can be. It's the kind of thing to make you curious about people, curious about the past, about the present, the future, curious about the hows and the whys of life. The Two Dollar Radio folks say it's a graphic novel...that it's "biography | music" but I don't know. It's something...it sure is something. Certainly it's a thing you won't see much in this world: it's a warning and a prayer, it's a certain kind of feeling put down in pages, and in beautifully stinky ink. You'll find yourself in the book, and wonder how you got in there when you know nothing of Daniel Johnston or Scott McClanahan or Ricardo Cavolo...a part of yourself that you'll think, "hey, where have you been so long?" and be glad that you finally have it back.
December 31, 2016
If you were going to tell the story of outsider artist and musician Daniel Johnston, a story that includes madness, mental hospitals and MTV, a story of psychotic breakdowns, demonic obsessions and an improbable rise to fame, you'd probably take a conservative, clear-eyed approach.
That's the path that Jeff Feuerzeig followed in his award-winning documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston . In The Incantation of Daniel Johnston, the graphic novel by Ricardo Cavolo and Scott McClanahan, they take a decidedly different approach.
Cavolo, a visual artist who got his start as a tattooer in Spain, mapped out the story. Cavolo's bold, black outlines put Daniel Johnston at the forefront of his illustrations. Using the lexicon of tattooing, Cavolo's figures are covered in symbols drenched in hyper-bright colors that are almost lurid. He covers his avatars with images of ghosts, guitars, and an endless series of eyeballs and thrusts them into a hallucinatory dreamscape obsessed with the body. Cavolo doesn't just want us tell a story, he wants the reader to imagine what it's like to be Daniel Johnston.
McClanahan follows the impulse to explore Johnston's interior life and then doubles down with a dose of hardscrabble truth.
In his autobiographical stories and novels, McClanahan describes what it's like to grow up in southern West Virginia without the resources or safety net afforded to many artists, and that worldview informs every illustration.
"Carpenters are bipolar too, but it doesn't help them build better houses."
Despite the resurgence of Daniel Johnston's career due to praise the documentary received, there's no triumph over mental illness like it's a bully in an after school special. One doesn't "beat" mental illness anymore than those battling addiction or dealing with disabilities ever "beat" their demons or afflictions. People with mental health issues deal with it every day, a fact the Appalachian author drives home:
"So if you think this story is a cute mixture of mental illness and art—then imagine Daniel beating your ass with a lead pipe."
Even if you're familiar with the earnest yet offbeat work of Johnston, Cavolo and McClanahan, there's no way to prepare yourself for the visions you'll find between the covers of The Incantations of Daniel Johnston.
That's the path that Jeff Feuerzeig followed in his award-winning documentary, The Devil and Daniel Johnston . In The Incantation of Daniel Johnston, the graphic novel by Ricardo Cavolo and Scott McClanahan, they take a decidedly different approach.
Cavolo, a visual artist who got his start as a tattooer in Spain, mapped out the story. Cavolo's bold, black outlines put Daniel Johnston at the forefront of his illustrations. Using the lexicon of tattooing, Cavolo's figures are covered in symbols drenched in hyper-bright colors that are almost lurid. He covers his avatars with images of ghosts, guitars, and an endless series of eyeballs and thrusts them into a hallucinatory dreamscape obsessed with the body. Cavolo doesn't just want us tell a story, he wants the reader to imagine what it's like to be Daniel Johnston.
McClanahan follows the impulse to explore Johnston's interior life and then doubles down with a dose of hardscrabble truth.
In his autobiographical stories and novels, McClanahan describes what it's like to grow up in southern West Virginia without the resources or safety net afforded to many artists, and that worldview informs every illustration.
"Carpenters are bipolar too, but it doesn't help them build better houses."
Despite the resurgence of Daniel Johnston's career due to praise the documentary received, there's no triumph over mental illness like it's a bully in an after school special. One doesn't "beat" mental illness anymore than those battling addiction or dealing with disabilities ever "beat" their demons or afflictions. People with mental health issues deal with it every day, a fact the Appalachian author drives home:
"So if you think this story is a cute mixture of mental illness and art—then imagine Daniel beating your ass with a lead pipe."
Even if you're familiar with the earnest yet offbeat work of Johnston, Cavolo and McClanahan, there's no way to prepare yourself for the visions you'll find between the covers of The Incantations of Daniel Johnston.
October 5, 2020
Adorei!
A Sarah (minha mais velha) achou “Bizarro!”
A Clara (uma das gêmeas) gostou mais que eu. Fez eu ler para ela meia dúzia de vezes. Gostou dos sapos e dos "sangues"!
Aqui, registo uma dica:
Quando viajar, compre autores locais.
Estava eu em Madrid e fiz o que sempre faço:
- Me indica um autor daqui!?
E, primeiro, a reação é sempre engraçada. Por algum motivo, quem trabalha vendendo cultura, por mais incrível que pareça, não tem olhos para o local. Pelo menos, de imediato. Mas, conversando um pouco, costumam abrir gavetas escondidas, chamar colegas... pedir dicas uns aos outros e, geralmente, surgem grandes achados. É uma chance única. Peça um autor da cidade que estiver conhecendo.
Em Madrid, depois de pensar um pouco, a balconista inovou:
- Vou te indicar um autor de Salamanca, que fica aqui perto. Pode ser?
- Bora!
Pois, assim conheci a arte de Ricardo CavoloRicardo Cavolo. Belíssima. Encantadora. Ou, nas palavras da Sarah, Bizarro!
E, por tabela, nesta obra, conheci a notável história do compositor, ilustrador e problemático Daniel Johnston (que ainda vou ouvir melhor).
É isso.
Um belo livro para se levar para casa.
Um grande artista para acompanhar.
Ótimas músicas para ouvir no spotify.
E uma história para não esquecer.
Tudo isso porque pedi: me mostra os autores locais?
Faça isso!
A Sarah (minha mais velha) achou “Bizarro!”
A Clara (uma das gêmeas) gostou mais que eu. Fez eu ler para ela meia dúzia de vezes. Gostou dos sapos e dos "sangues"!
Aqui, registo uma dica:
Quando viajar, compre autores locais.
Estava eu em Madrid e fiz o que sempre faço:
- Me indica um autor daqui!?
E, primeiro, a reação é sempre engraçada. Por algum motivo, quem trabalha vendendo cultura, por mais incrível que pareça, não tem olhos para o local. Pelo menos, de imediato. Mas, conversando um pouco, costumam abrir gavetas escondidas, chamar colegas... pedir dicas uns aos outros e, geralmente, surgem grandes achados. É uma chance única. Peça um autor da cidade que estiver conhecendo.
Em Madrid, depois de pensar um pouco, a balconista inovou:
- Vou te indicar um autor de Salamanca, que fica aqui perto. Pode ser?
- Bora!
Pois, assim conheci a arte de Ricardo CavoloRicardo Cavolo. Belíssima. Encantadora. Ou, nas palavras da Sarah, Bizarro!
E, por tabela, nesta obra, conheci a notável história do compositor, ilustrador e problemático Daniel Johnston (que ainda vou ouvir melhor).
É isso.
Um belo livro para se levar para casa.
Um grande artista para acompanhar.
Ótimas músicas para ouvir no spotify.
E uma história para não esquecer.
Tudo isso porque pedi: me mostra os autores locais?
Faça isso!
July 4, 2016
Take heed the book's warnings: this book is cursed.
"We can only save one another without knowing it. We save one another so we can sing our songs."
A hundred stars.
July 19, 2016
Scott and Ricardo took a depressing story, infused it with hope and then took that hope away again in an endearing way. Just like Daniel's story is supposed to be.
June 23, 2024
Man måste läsa denhär. Man har inget annat val!!
June 18, 2021
This was really sad! And also so stunning!
September 4, 2020
A no frills bio of a fascinating individual. Nice illustrations as well.
May 4, 2022
loved this, needed this. the visual depiction of daniel’s internal workings are bright, vivid, and a little mind-blowing.
plus i might never stop thinking of the following line - “we can only save one another without knowing it.”
plus i might never stop thinking of the following line - “we can only save one another without knowing it.”
February 6, 2017
Scott's words sank into my heart and then gripped it and twisted it. The feeling I felt reading this book is a lot like that mysterious feeling from a favorite song that both holds you and hurts you. It accurately describes heartache and pain and love. It made me experience my own pain. Such a personal, truthful, beautiful book.
November 29, 2018
I loved this so much (until it placed a curse on me...)
April 1, 2023
A beautifully illustrated book about the musician & artist Daniel Johnston who suffered from mental illness.
September 15, 2025
❤️ Generous. Read on a walk down eastern parkway from central library to Rogers Ave. now I’m googling. And wish I had a sweatshirt
August 5, 2022
Läste hos Minnaaa
Rörig men jag gillade den verkligen!!
Älskade konsten!!
Rörig men jag gillade den verkligen!!
Älskade konsten!!
Want to Read
June 5, 2020sure is hard to find a copy of this book huh
October 15, 2019
3.5
I didn't really like this because it was a biography written still in Daniel Johnston's lifetime, thus making it feel like pieces were missing. I also felt that the author took generous liberties with the biography; it felt like it wasn't "the truth" in its entirety.
I liked the art, though!
RIP Daniel.
I didn't really like this because it was a biography written still in Daniel Johnston's lifetime, thus making it feel like pieces were missing. I also felt that the author took generous liberties with the biography; it felt like it wasn't "the truth" in its entirety.
I liked the art, though!
RIP Daniel.
September 15, 2016
This is a hard book to process, as it's dealing with quite a bit in such a small space. Even more, it's complicated by it being a "translation" of another text--though, it's really a rewrite based on the artwork and not a direct translation, which is odd in and of itself.
That all being said, it's still an interesting and enjoyable read--though often depressing and heartbreaking.
It may have some odd asides--and some of the images' captions are too-self-referential and trying to lighten things from time to time--but it tackles the heart of what many artists struggle with: the feeling of worthlessness brought on by our own creations. It's handled, here, in such a way that it resonates and wrestles with what goes on with a "tortured artist."
The art is wonderfully vivid and fantastic. The colors are gorgeous, even if--at times--it seems sloppy. (Honestly, I wasn't sure about it at first, but the more I was privy to, the more I enjoyed Cavolo's style.)
In the end, it's not for everyone--as I can see the writing, the art, or both pieces bothering some readers--but it's an interesting tome, and one of the more unique things I've read in recent times.
That all being said, it's still an interesting and enjoyable read--though often depressing and heartbreaking.
It may have some odd asides--and some of the images' captions are too-self-referential and trying to lighten things from time to time--but it tackles the heart of what many artists struggle with: the feeling of worthlessness brought on by our own creations. It's handled, here, in such a way that it resonates and wrestles with what goes on with a "tortured artist."
The art is wonderfully vivid and fantastic. The colors are gorgeous, even if--at times--it seems sloppy. (Honestly, I wasn't sure about it at first, but the more I was privy to, the more I enjoyed Cavolo's style.)
In the end, it's not for everyone--as I can see the writing, the art, or both pieces bothering some readers--but it's an interesting tome, and one of the more unique things I've read in recent times.
July 8, 2017
this is a bizarrely gutsy portrait of the life of Daniel Johnston. It doesn't fall into the normal narrative traps of mental illness and art: there's nothing cute or magical about it, Daniel's illness is terrifying. The author and artist here reflect that in the art (which in some ways feels as though it is mimicking Daniel's own) and text, often returning to the idea places where Daniel has been unhinged and violent or dangerous and juxtaposing that with the Daniel that follows his dreams. It drives toward the happy conclusion that we want and need for Daniel, the knowledge that he's gained the fame that he's dreamed about this entire time and is now much more stable; but then it pivots. Because there isn't necessarily a happy ending. There's only the struggle and the idea that we have to keep struggling against our demons - be they metaphorical or, more terrifyingly, literal.
Read
December 7, 2020Because fiction is memoir is fiction is nonfiction. Because Scott McClanahan knows all of this as well as anyone. Because Ricardo Cavalo is love. And because The Incantations of Daniel Johnston is a sad and lovely vision that is sure to change your life.
April 18, 2017
Volatile and heartbreaking, a celebration of the works and life of Daniel Johnston that truly captures the highs and lows of his bipolar, delusional, and brilliant world.
July 9, 2016
Holy shit.
July 18, 2016
A beautiful book, through and through.
August 25, 2016
I wish the writer had spent as much time on this book as the artist! Beautiful illustrations though.
January 10, 2017
The art is better than the words.
January 28, 2017
heady, with bursting illustrations. thick.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews