Fante Bukowski Three: A Perfect Failure

Fante Bukowski #3

by Noah Van Sciver

In the concluding volume of his graphic novel triptych, Van Sciver skewers pretension and fatuous mansplainers in the form of his modern literary loser. After another year of living in the great American Midwest, self-styled erudite and superstar-to-be Fante Bukowski has a final showdown between his father and his dreams, is hired to ghostwrite a teen celebrity’s memoir, and attends his first local zine fest. Meanwhile, there are hidden forces working behind the scenes to push Fante Bukowski into the critical and financial success he’s always longed for, despite his continued lack of talent. Full-color illustrations throughout.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Humor, Graphic Novels Comics, Fiction, The United States Of America

120 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

About the author

[copied from: http://nvansciver.wordpress.com/about/]

I am THE one and only Noah Van Sciver, cartoonist/comic strip artist and illustrator. I’m best known for my alternative comic book series Blammo and my weekly comic strip 4 Questions which appears every week in the alternative newspaper Westword. My work has appeared in The Best American comics 2011, Mad magazine, Sunstone, The Comics Journal, MOME and numerous comics anthologies. I’m currently hard at work on my first graphic novel The Hypo which will be published by Fantagraphics books upon its completion. I’m a cancer and I hate seafood, and adventure.

Reviews

[Sam Quixote · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fante Bukowski: the greatest writer who ever lived or a deluded Don Quixote-esque halfwit with the worst pen name in history fruitlessly chasing literary fame and fortune on zero talent? Definitely the latter. In this third and final book, Fante Bukowski catches his first break: a commission to ghostwrite a Disney star’s memoir. Also – revealed at last! – Fante Bukowski’s secret origin.

I had no idea Noah Van Sciver would produce more than one Fante Bukowski book, let alone three, but I’m so glad he did as they’ve all been fantastically funny! And I hope this isn’t really the end either – I could honestly read a Fante Bukowski book every year.

A Perfect Failure starts a bit slow and had me worried that it would be disappointing – Fante Bukowski’s “secret origin” isn’t all that and the table-setting, while necessary, is dull – but, once he gets his Disney commission, the narrative picks up and gets better and better from there. His absurdly dark and grimly inappropriate take on what should be a light and fluffy memoir was hilarious!

I wondered at first why there was so much focus on Norma, his performance artist bestie, but I loved how proper nutso that storyline got by the end. Ditto Fante Bukowski’s landlord Antonio – the reveal of who he was had me genuinely laughing out loud – and I enjoyed Van Sciver and fellow comics creator John Porcellino’s self-deprecating cameos at the zinefest.

Everything about that final act in Colorado had me laughing, from the gun room to the dad-joke-machine doctor to the hipster clones. And I loved how bonkers the final twist was – what an absolutely crazy story! Brilliant.

Noah Van Sciver’s Fante Bukowski series has been anything but a failure. I highly recommend these actually funny, slice-of-life comics starring a hopeless, yet effortlessly likeable, protagonist. Fingies crossed Van Sciver decides to come back sometime in the future to tell more wonderfully barmy stories starring this lunatic!

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The conclusion of the hilarious comics trilogy focused on a guy who changes his name to become associated with his two favorite authors. He is now 25, has never worked a job, drinks instead of writing, a common feature of creative writing programs, a person who is living the life of the tragic, self-obsessed artist but not doing anything with his art (see Whatever by Karl Stevens).

So this has to end with just more and more failure, and/or have Fante come to some mild insights, and in spite of his being interviewed for a zine fest and reading some of his poetry at an open mike, it is not clear Fante will ever be a successful writer, but his Dad's illness and meeting a girl who isn't merely annoyed by him factor in the tale.

I didn't like this resolution quite as much as the two previous books, though this one is the most ambitious of the trilogy, flashing (well with him it is more like drunk slipping on a banana peel and faceplanting) back into Fante's past. Quite a few laughs, still. 4 for the third volume, but I give 5 stars here for the series.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in the Fante Bukowski journey. Looking at the cover will give you a hint of his mood - he walks around with a bandana and really attempts to understand his art, his past, and his family. Here he is, discussing his love of DFW:



A fitting end to this series. I hate to say that I will miss him.

[J.T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last chapter of the Fante trilogy fills in Fante's backstory including how he became a writer, why he adopted an alias and his relationship with his father. I don't want to spoil anything, but it's nice to see Fante grow as a person. NVS bucks his earlier one-dimensionality and develops him into a character we can sympathize with rather than just laugh at. Replete with the usual top-notch drawings and writing we've come to expect from Van Sciver!

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book in one hour. I drove home from the comic shop, brewed some tea, sunk into the couch and flipped page after page until it was done. I love everything NVS does. His Blammo series is fantastic. The Fante trilogy was great. His anthology work and various zines and sketchbooks and minis and collections. He’s such a bright and brilliant light on the Comics scene and I’m sorry I missed him at TCAF a couple of years ago. He seems like a great guy. Highly recommended.

[Hannah Garden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I keep a handful of titles by my personal comics idols on my desk and along with Bechdel and Gill and Wertz and Barry and Bell and Pierre is permitted one male and that is Van Sciver. God damn is he good. God damn.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fante Bukowski's swan song leaves one feeling pretty good, like things don't have to be perfect or even that good, but they still can end up making sense in this dumb world of ours. Hooray for beautiful losers and scary weirdo friends!!! NVS's guest appearance, this time as the skeevy "graphic novelist", is completely delightful.

[Ian Carpenter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm addicted to this writer right now. I don't know if it's the 2020 of it all and loving the endless comic misery in this title but I find it all painfully on target and great fun.

[Eli Bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fante Bukowski is in theory a one-joke character: the worst writer in the world with the highest self-regard, kind of the Inspector Clouseau of literature but drunker and more venal. What makes him so much fun, and makes the idea of doing three whole books about him even imaginable, is Van Sciver's eye for the unexpected detail, both in Fante's madness and in the only slightly more sensible world around him. In this book, for instance, we learn that one of the two real friendships he's ever had was with a family of raccoons in his attic—and it makes sense and is actually kind of poignant.

That said, my favorite of the three books would still have to be either the first, because of its freshness and brevity, or the second, because of the surprisingly successful way it turned one of the supporting caricatures (Audrey) into sort of an actual person and also brought Fante into two new worlds (zine-making and Columbus, OH). The third one suffers slightly from having two specific jobs that, as the final installment, it needs to do: show us Fante's origin as the young Kelly Perkins, and have enough of a plot to move Fante slightly out of his rut so the end can feel like an ending.

The plot is not a bad choice, as it brings Fante into contact with some more areas of culture he doesn't understand, and also builds on one of the best jokes in the second book (the idea that Columbus is the nexus of the literary world, and that one specific person there has slept with basically every living major writer)... but it does make a few parts drag a little, as Fante has to do X amount of stuff that he can fail at for story purposes; and some of it feels a little like "well, better make sure I've raised the stakes further than before", so for instance whereas Fante accidentally burned down a building in book two, here there are two (implied) gruesome murders. The subplot about his performance-artist friend is fun because Van Sciver obviously enjoys writing and drawing that character and revealing her insanity little by little, but it diverges so far from what the rest of the book is about that it feels kind of like the kind of TV episode that's meant to set up a new spinoff show. There's also a slight foray into the small-press comics world (with another appearance by the horrible "Noah Van Sciver" from book two) but mostly just for the sake of roasting John Porcellino.

None of the above is stuff that really bothers me; it's just my attempt to figure out why this book didn't strike me as a crowning achievement, but just another very entertaining and inventive take on a premise that in most authors' hands would've been good for about ten pages.

[Redwan Orittro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not the ending I expected but the ending this story deserves. Gooo Fante Bukowski

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh Fante.. never change.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A satisfying and surprisingly heartfelt conclusion to the Fante Bukowski story. There's some useful resolution here and a sense of closure. He perhaps hasn't met his goals and found his dreams, but there is peace here and at least the idea that he might move on and become a more mature and better adult.

[Alex Kudera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Start with Book One if you're headed in this direction.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series always makes me laugh really hard!

[Vincent DiGirolamo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stumbled upon this novel while looking for some John Fante in the pub lib. I read and saw interviews with Bukowski years ago. I liked his anarchic self-sabotaging Chutzpa, even tho many considered him to be just an old drunk. I found the first parts of the book hilarious, the middle part sophomoric (or just not suited to my demographic), and the ending sweet. But somehow it went from "I gotta show this to so and so" to never mind. I'd read another, though. I like the form and the character in spite of myself.

[Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Is this the end of the Fante Bukowski saga? If so, it’s a great place to end as Fante Bukowski’s over the top literary escapades hit a satisfying climax. Continuing the second book’s witty satire on the art of writing and the lit scene in general, Bukowski actually hits on some success as a ghostwriter for some young pop star and also must confront his past. At the same time, his new performance artist friend Norma Lee brings in the art world to skewer as well. We get to see some of young Kelly Perkin’s background, making his single minded love of writing in full disregard of his talent even more endearing.

What I’ve said in my previous reviews of Noah Van Sciver’s work in the Fante Bukowski series continues to apply with A Perfect Failure. Things increase in absurdity a bit in this one, though, in ways that are best experienced in situ, though perhaps in ways that don’t quite fit the humorous world Bukowski has existed in so far. In any case, a fun and satisfying conclusion.

[Chad Jordahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few laugh aloud moments, a great many chuckles, a joy to read throughout. Well, there were a couple of punchlines that didn't land for me, and a stretch where Fante's story jumped the shark. But Van Sciver gives us humor, pathos, and schadenfreude... sure, all of them... well done.

The book cover references David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. I haven't read that book so I can only note it with curiosity. Also amusing is the author photo on the back cover which is not actually Noah Van Sciver but rather a vaguely hipster millennial model dude.

[Reggie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little clunky in the end, but still satisfying. Fante is the eternal unlovable loser, and I love him for it.

[Matt Graupman · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wry, melancholic saga of the literary world’s greatest punchline (punching bag?) comes to a fitting end in “A Perfect Failure,” the third volume in Noah Van Sciver’s sardonic Fante Bukowski series. What once began as a lark in Van Sciver’s sketchbooks became, over the course of the trilogy, a surprisingly affecting examination of art, ambition, and, in “A Perfect Failure,” family ties. It’s also laugh-out-loud funny and features some of the most lively art of Van Sciver’s prolific career.

Acting as both a sequel and somewhat of a prequel, “A Perfect Failure” finds Bukowski living in bohemian Columbus, Ohio, ghostwriting the autobiography of a young Disney star, which finally allows him to pay off some of his debts and prove to his domineering father that he is a literary star. Of course, life is messy so the Disney star ends up killing an endangered rhino, Fante struggles to make ends meet selling his poetry at zine fairs, and he discovers that his father has been hospitalized following a stroke. These hardships force Bukowski to reconcile his present persona with his origins as emo-obsessed aspiring teenage musician Kelly Perkins and it somehow all comes together in a very satisfying way. Noah Van Sciver, unlike his slovenly protagonist, is an actual star in the comics world and it’s hard to imagine anyone having more fun than he’s had with this series. His pages are riots of color and mixed media and sarcastic wit, demonstrating a looser hand than normally seen in his autobiographical and historical comics. His proportions might occasionally be a little wonky compared to the two earlier volumes, but there’s a spontaneity to “A Perfect Failure” that’s invigorating. It’s just not fair: even when Van Sciver tries to do something light and humorous, he makes something effortlessly special.

At one point in “A Perfect Failure,” while in Denver visiting his hospitalized father, Fante Bukowski runs into a doctor with a dark sense of humor, who comments, “I have to keep things light around here or I’ll get lost in the darkness.” I can’t think of a better way to describe this book, this series, and - come to think of it - Noah Van Sciver’s entire comic aesthetic.

[Jesús · Rating 3 out of 5]

The further (final?) adventures of the self-obsessed, pretentious, wanna-be writer Fante Bukowski. This third volume has less of the wry awfulness of the first Fante book and even less of the satiric bite of the second one. Instead, A Perfect Failure sets out to earn the otherwise-detestable Fante some sympathy points, making A Perfect Failure a much flatter, more crowd-pleasing volume than the prior two.

Flashbacks give us a version of how daddy’s little deadbeat son, Kelly Perkins, became comic fandom’s little deadbeat writer, Fante Bukowski. This backstory doesn’t do much for the character since we could all pretty much guess what kinds of personal cliches might go into making an egotistical, unproductive artist. There’s not anything at stake here. And the story in the present just feels like Fante’s character and story have entered into a steady holding pattern.

It’s all perfectly enjoyable reading, but there’s just not anything exceptional here, aside from a few panels showing Fante’s affection for a family of raccoons and a brief gag featuring John Porcellino. There’s nothing being risked, reimagined, or revealed about the character, about the art world, or about anything else. It’s like a forgettable episode of a perfectly serviceable sitcom filled with predictable jokes and story beats.

And I’m only speaking so harshly since I know Van Sciver is capable of much better. The prior Fante volume was fantastic, and Van Sciver’s ongoing Blammo anthology continues to be filled with some of the best new comics going. Unfortunately, this latest Fante book already feels like the character has run out of creative steam.

[Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphic novelist Noah Van Sciver's Fante Bukowski saga comes to a rather poignant end. I really enjoyed the satire of a clueless self-proclaimed writer trying to do anything (smoke, drink, not get evicted) but write anything substantial because he has no awareness that he has no talent. I loved the ribbing of the 1990's zine culture scene being relegated to some sort of comic-con and an art character who is just as clueless as our hero, trying to make it in the performance art world. The satire can seem a bit mean-spirited at times, but there is a certain sadness to people who desire to create, but can't quite figure it out.

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although this is the last book of a trilogy, I found that it reads well without any knowledge of the previous two works. The three have been collected into a single volume, The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski.

Fante Bukowski is the name Kelly Perkins has taken as a poet trying to make it in the art subculture of Columbus Ohio. His only friends are aspiring performance artist Norma Lee and a local prostitute. Seeming to fail at everything he tries to do, his life itself is his only success, captured by the genius of Noah Van Skiver in the pages of this book.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 3 out of 5]

The third in the series, a Return of the Jaded Eye.

Daddy issues locked and loaded. Performance art skewered - j'accuse. Fairy godmother moonlights as a prostitute or vice squad versa. Again behold the cross-over collaboration pin ups, but they are trumped by the back cover self-portrait. Batman and Spiderman as barflies, and isn't that Bukowski in there too, or just the beer googles doing their delusional disillusion?

All you need is love, or cake, or art, or money. No wait all you need is more tim....

[Aaron Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

i’ve been a noah van sciver fan ever since stumbling across one of the early issues of blammo at a record store in town. it’s been cool to see him grow as a cartoonist over the past decade or so. his art and storytelling have improved a lot. this book, the third in the fante bukowski series, is sweet and funny (and gets bonus points for being set in columbus).

[Edward Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Art work was good but the story didn't grab me. I got the impression the author was trying to communicate how Bukowski suffered for his art but he comes off more stupid and unaware than soul suffering.

[Mayssa Abdelaziz · Rating 4 out of 5]

très rigolo
en tant qu’étudiante en art j’avais un peu la pile jvé pa vou mentchir mais c’est bien mtn je sais tout ce que je ne veux pas être
la femme gâteau j’aurai adoré préformer ça
shoutout à tous mes emos déchus 👻😎

[Brad Wojak · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed this series, a fun read

[Comics Alternative · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://comicsalternative.com/comics-a...

[Scott Stelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

These books are hilarious. Some great character development. Love the jokes at my own pretentious literary tastes: "An Infinite Jest about The Heartbreaking Work of a Staggering 'Genius'"

[Mary Shyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dang did this book make me laugh.