What do you think?
Rate this book
One Dirty Tree
In Noah Van Sciver’s new funny and heartfelt memoir, he is haunted by memories of growing up in a big, poor, Mormon family.
Noah Van Sciver is haunted by the house at 133 ____ Street, or as his brothers rechristened it “One Dirty Tree.” This sprawling dilapidated New Jersey house was his first home and the site of formative experiences. Growing up in a big, poor, Mormon family—surrounded by comic-books, eight siblings, bathtubs full of dirty dishes—Noah’s childhood exerts a powerful force on his present day relationship. Drawn in his inimitable style, written with wry wit and humor, One Dirty Tree is another reason why Noah Van Sciver is one of the best cartoonists of his generation.
Noah Van Sciver first came to national attention with his critically acclaimed comic book series Blammo, which has earned him three Ignatz award nominations. His work has appeared in Mad magazine, Best American Comics 2011, and The Stranger, as well as countless graphic anthologies. Van Sciver is the author of four graphic novels: The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, Youth Is Wasted, Saint Cole, and Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer. Van Sciver currently resides in Columbus, OH.
Noah Van Sciver is haunted by the house at 133 ____ Street, or as his brothers rechristened it “One Dirty Tree.” This sprawling dilapidated New Jersey house was his first home and the site of formative experiences. Growing up in a big, poor, Mormon family—surrounded by comic-books, eight siblings, bathtubs full of dirty dishes—Noah’s childhood exerts a powerful force on his present day relationship. Drawn in his inimitable style, written with wry wit and humor, One Dirty Tree is another reason why Noah Van Sciver is one of the best cartoonists of his generation.
Noah Van Sciver first came to national attention with his critically acclaimed comic book series Blammo, which has earned him three Ignatz award nominations. His work has appeared in Mad magazine, Best American Comics 2011, and The Stranger, as well as countless graphic anthologies. Van Sciver is the author of four graphic novels: The Hypo: The Melancholic Young Lincoln, Youth Is Wasted, Saint Cole, and Fante Bukowski: Struggling Writer. Van Sciver currently resides in Columbus, OH.
116 pages, Hardcover
First published October 16, 2018
1 person is currently reading
266 people want to read
About the author
Noah Van Sciver
90 books207 followers[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.
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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
January 3, 2019
One Dirty Tree is a short memoir that jumps between two different times in Noah Van Sciver’s life: 1994, aged 10, and living with his family (his mom, himself and his 7 siblings are pictured on the cover – Mormons, eh?), and 2014, aged 30, as he completes the first Fante Bukowski book and disentangles himself from a doomed relationship.
I really liked this one. I tend to enjoy most of Noah Van Sciver’s comics anyway but it was especially interesting to read this rare and revealing venture into nonfiction. The childhood memoir stuff is fairly de rigueur and a bit dull, particularly the parts recounting Mormons’ beliefs which I was already familiar with thanks to South Park.
It makes sense though to include these sections as it plays into his adult frustrations with his then-girlfriend’s (mis)perceptions of what Mormon family life is actually like, which, going by what we see here, was actually really normal. And it explains why Van Sciver’s dad is missing from the cover, who’s definitely the most interesting character from this period.
The 2014 stuff was much more compelling. As good a cartoonist as he is, you can see how difficult it is making a living drawing indie comics. He works at Panera Bread during the week, works Sundays at a friend’s bookshop, fits in cartooning amidst everything, and remains perennially broke!
You also see his acute awareness of how other people view cartoonists and how it makes him feel, boiling over in a final break-up argument with his girlfriend where he defends his choices. Good for you, Noah! is how I felt – he might not become rich or famous making indie comics but at least he’s pursuing his dreams, his interests and creating great art in the process, which is more than most people can say.
If you like Van Sciver’s slice-of-life comics, or the sub-genre itself, you’ll enjoy One Dirty Tree (the nickname for the house the family were living in at the time); otherwise I can’t see it appealing to many readers beyond. Poor old Noah’s gonna be at that Panera Bread a while longer…!
I really liked this one. I tend to enjoy most of Noah Van Sciver’s comics anyway but it was especially interesting to read this rare and revealing venture into nonfiction. The childhood memoir stuff is fairly de rigueur and a bit dull, particularly the parts recounting Mormons’ beliefs which I was already familiar with thanks to South Park.
It makes sense though to include these sections as it plays into his adult frustrations with his then-girlfriend’s (mis)perceptions of what Mormon family life is actually like, which, going by what we see here, was actually really normal. And it explains why Van Sciver’s dad is missing from the cover, who’s definitely the most interesting character from this period.
The 2014 stuff was much more compelling. As good a cartoonist as he is, you can see how difficult it is making a living drawing indie comics. He works at Panera Bread during the week, works Sundays at a friend’s bookshop, fits in cartooning amidst everything, and remains perennially broke!
You also see his acute awareness of how other people view cartoonists and how it makes him feel, boiling over in a final break-up argument with his girlfriend where he defends his choices. Good for you, Noah! is how I felt – he might not become rich or famous making indie comics but at least he’s pursuing his dreams, his interests and creating great art in the process, which is more than most people can say.
If you like Van Sciver’s slice-of-life comics, or the sub-genre itself, you’ll enjoy One Dirty Tree (the nickname for the house the family were living in at the time); otherwise I can’t see it appealing to many readers beyond. Poor old Noah’s gonna be at that Panera Bread a while longer…!
March 17, 2019
I love everything Noah Van Sciver does, from Saint Cole through his biography of Lincoln, The Hypo, to the hilarious Fante Bukowski, and now his first memoir, which tacks back and forth between sweet/crazy anecdotes of his growing up in a house numbered 133 with a crooked tree in front of it--he and his sibs called the old, broken-down house One Dirty Tree--to stories in the present day of his life as an artist, supported by his working at Panera, and his struggling relationship with his girlfriend.
Van Sciver had eight siblings, was raised in a crazy quasi-hippie Mormon house (and I just read Tara Westover's extremist-faction Mormon story! Both of their fathers are bi-polar!) with little attention by their parents to actual parenting. In telling the two stories he kind of makes a sad parallel between his Dad who left his own family for his now increasingly isolated obsessions to his own obsessive vow of artistic poverty and eventual break-up with his girlfriend. Yes, sure, some of it is sad, but to see many of the kids daily drawing or reading comics, to see them on fossil hunts together with Dad, or sitting for portraits with Mom as she drew, I loved every minute of it. Within days I will read the third and final installment of Fante Bukowski! Keep 'em coming, Noah!!
One moment: Noah, in elementary school, kissed a girl, with permission. Her mother came over to complain to his mother, his mom said she would deal with it appropriately, and when the door was closed, she high-fived him. Another moment: So many kids, so many dishes, so little organizational leadership, they daily piled the dishes in the bathtub and washed them there. (Right: if you wanted to take a bath you had to either do the dishes or take them out).
Van Sciver had eight siblings, was raised in a crazy quasi-hippie Mormon house (and I just read Tara Westover's extremist-faction Mormon story! Both of their fathers are bi-polar!) with little attention by their parents to actual parenting. In telling the two stories he kind of makes a sad parallel between his Dad who left his own family for his now increasingly isolated obsessions to his own obsessive vow of artistic poverty and eventual break-up with his girlfriend. Yes, sure, some of it is sad, but to see many of the kids daily drawing or reading comics, to see them on fossil hunts together with Dad, or sitting for portraits with Mom as she drew, I loved every minute of it. Within days I will read the third and final installment of Fante Bukowski! Keep 'em coming, Noah!!
One moment: Noah, in elementary school, kissed a girl, with permission. Her mother came over to complain to his mother, his mom said she would deal with it appropriately, and when the door was closed, she high-fived him. Another moment: So many kids, so many dishes, so little organizational leadership, they daily piled the dishes in the bathtub and washed them there. (Right: if you wanted to take a bath you had to either do the dishes or take them out).
October 30, 2018
I would prefer for my favorite comic book artist to be a woman but someone's going to have to kill Noah Van Sciver.
December 2, 2018
This graphic memoir is filled with intriguing moments, especially from Van Sciver's childhood, but he fails to jell those moments into a coherent satisfying work.
The book is divided into three parts: Van Sciver narrates from a framing sequence set in 2017, recounts his childhood starting in 1994, and randomly jumps to a disintegrating romantic relationship around the time of his 30th birthday in 2014.
His childhood reminded me of Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle as both were raised in near poverty by a free-spirited mother and father whose primary interests do not seem to include being parents to their numerous children. Van Sciver's father has bipolar disorder, is unemployed, and physically punishes the children. His wife spends much of her time reading, writing and drawing. Both are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in a broken down house in New Jersey and reliant upon support from their congregation.
The childhood sections are filled with some fascinating tidbits about living in a large, creative family and practicing a religion that seems mysterious to those looking in from the outside. For instance, during a fossil hunt, the father explains dinosaurs with this Creationist theory: "These bones didn't come from animals of earth, son. When our lord created this planet for us he did so by fusing together pieces of other worlds." (God recycles!)
But the childhood vignettes are frustratingly short and vague and constantly interrupted by the rather tedious relationship storyline. I think I'm supposed to think that the childhood that fostered his artistic creativity also got him used to living at a level of poverty that dooms the relationship, but I found it hard to care as I did not feel vested in this relationship as we are mostly shown the end when both parties are being sort of awful to each other.
And while this does not in anyway influence my rating of the book, I was a bit distracted by the presence of Ethan Van Sciver. Until the first page of this book, I did not know or even speculate that Ethan and Noah are brothers despite their sharing a rather uncommon last name and my having previously read books by both. Ethan has a swirl of controversy about him due to his behavior on social media and being a champion of the Comicsgate crowd. In this book, he is referenced mainly as the creator of Cyberfrog, which seems a bit like introducing your brother Martin Shkreli as a guy who works at a pharmaceutical company and moving on. And that's fair, I suppose, but it still seems a bit disingenuous.
The book is divided into three parts: Van Sciver narrates from a framing sequence set in 2017, recounts his childhood starting in 1994, and randomly jumps to a disintegrating romantic relationship around the time of his 30th birthday in 2014.
His childhood reminded me of Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle as both were raised in near poverty by a free-spirited mother and father whose primary interests do not seem to include being parents to their numerous children. Van Sciver's father has bipolar disorder, is unemployed, and physically punishes the children. His wife spends much of her time reading, writing and drawing. Both are devout members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in a broken down house in New Jersey and reliant upon support from their congregation.
The childhood sections are filled with some fascinating tidbits about living in a large, creative family and practicing a religion that seems mysterious to those looking in from the outside. For instance, during a fossil hunt, the father explains dinosaurs with this Creationist theory: "These bones didn't come from animals of earth, son. When our lord created this planet for us he did so by fusing together pieces of other worlds." (God recycles!)
But the childhood vignettes are frustratingly short and vague and constantly interrupted by the rather tedious relationship storyline. I think I'm supposed to think that the childhood that fostered his artistic creativity also got him used to living at a level of poverty that dooms the relationship, but I found it hard to care as I did not feel vested in this relationship as we are mostly shown the end when both parties are being sort of awful to each other.
And while this does not in anyway influence my rating of the book, I was a bit distracted by the presence of Ethan Van Sciver. Until the first page of this book, I did not know or even speculate that Ethan and Noah are brothers despite their sharing a rather uncommon last name and my having previously read books by both. Ethan has a swirl of controversy about him due to his behavior on social media and being a champion of the Comicsgate crowd. In this book, he is referenced mainly as the creator of Cyberfrog, which seems a bit like introducing your brother Martin Shkreli as a guy who works at a pharmaceutical company and moving on. And that's fair, I suppose, but it still seems a bit disingenuous.
March 7, 2019
One Dirty Tree is a memoir in comics form. The title refers to the house number--133--where Noah grew up. He was the second youngest of a large Mormon family, and grew up in relative poverty. He intercuts scenes from his childhood with the present day, showing us the possible roots of his current outlook on life and the friction it can sometimes cause.
It's all fairly textbook comics autobiography, really. What made it stand out from the rest for me was that Noah has an excellent grasp of the rhythm of storytelling, and a good eye for detail. Also an excellent sense of color--there's a luminosity to the forest scenes that just really sang for me.
So, excellent book! I found myself wishing it were longer, but perhaps checking out more of Van Sciver’s work will suffice. Definitely recommended!
It's all fairly textbook comics autobiography, really. What made it stand out from the rest for me was that Noah has an excellent grasp of the rhythm of storytelling, and a good eye for detail. Also an excellent sense of color--there's a luminosity to the forest scenes that just really sang for me.
So, excellent book! I found myself wishing it were longer, but perhaps checking out more of Van Sciver’s work will suffice. Definitely recommended!
December 15, 2018
All of my NVS reviews probably come off as hyperbolic fanboy shit but quite frankly he is this generation’s R. Crumb. This one is an autobiographical look at Noah’s childhood intermixed with some present day scenes. Incredible book and published by the always awesome Uncivilized. Can anyone direct me to an online interview ( The Comics Journal maybe ?). I’d like to see what’s under the hood so to speak. Besides quality work Noah is extremely prolific. What is driving him ? I have a sense he’d sarcastically say the fear of failure and looming poverty are his motivators but I really think we have a genius level creative giant here.
December 22, 2018
There are moments in our life we can’t seem to get over. They haunt our memories and seem to hover over us until we find a way to exorcise them. This graphic memoir seems to be an attempt at such an exorcism.
November 9, 2018
A memoir of childhood and a memoir of a failed relationship that don't manage to mesh. In one he keeps emotionally distant and in the other he's too close for comfort.
November 1, 2019
Graphic novel memoirs are more to my fiancee’s taste, but this way I do get to read things I normally might not have, which is usually great. So this book appeared in our lives and I figured I’d check it out. At how quickly it reads (maybe 30 minutes) there’s really no reason not to, but memoirs are an interesting beast to me, something about so brazenly hanging up one’s life for everyone to behold…not sure if its audacious or simply indiscreet, but to a reader it is a fascinating window into other lives. In this case a life of a reproductively prolific Mormon family, the author, his parents and his eight siblings. Von Sciver talks frankly about the challenges of growing up without money, his father’s bipolar disorder and more. The story alternates timelines between the past and present, in the latter the adult (or almost adult) author is still without money, but is actively pursuing his passion of being a comic artist, while getting no recognition or support from his girlfriend. Von Sciver succeeded, obviously, since here I am reviewing his book, he’s become a known name in the industry as a graphic artist and a cartoonist. In fact, his art has a strong cartoonlike quality, like something right out of the newspaper comics. Not exactly to my liking, but cute and served the story well, making it somehow all the more personal. All in all, a fun read, one of those things where the protagonist goes through all these challenges only to make it and find success and recognition in the end, a very familiar theme in memoirs. So maybe not very original, but honest and well told. Not to mention plenty entertaining for such a quick read, certainly worth the time. Many thanks to my dearly beloved for another fine selection.
December 30, 2018
My favorite book by Noah to date.
June 19, 2019
Whoa, I read a lot of graphic memoirs. And this book doesn't make me want to stop.
May 27, 2024
I saw some really promising panels and interesting ideas in here, but nothing beyond that. Van Sciver didn't seem to find any way to bring those scattered moments together and present them in a more readable or coherent story, which is a shame as there's some quality in here, just not quite enough. I found the lettering messy, and the structure poor too.
November 13, 2018
Give me more stories from Noah's 8-sibling upbringing. The more modern story was boring in comparison.
May 27, 2019
One Dirty Tree bounces back and forth between Noah Van Sciver’s childhood home with his financially strapped Mormon family and the beginnings of his career as a cartoonist on the verge of his 30th birthday.
What is here is brilliant. The parallel storylines play off of one another perfectly without the need to explain or overburden the parallels. The use of splash-page sketch portraits also hits all of the best emotional notes.
My only gripe is that it ends too quickly. The final pages have an emotional resonance that far outstrips the slim story we’ve gotten up to that point. Another 100 pages or so spent getting to know and understand these characters and their relationships more would have given those final pages a truly sublime impact. Simply “sitting” with these characters longer would transform this book from very good to exceptional. This is one of the challenges of comics creation: the amount of time it takes to produce is much longer than the time it takes to read, which means that the pacing of longer works is very hard for cartoonists to judge.
On the plus side, after reading this, I’m persuaded that Van Sciver’s best work is still to come. And based on what he’s still producing in his Blammo anthology, he’s got much more memoir material to draw from. Perhaps this short book will end up being merely the beginning of a much longer, much more powerful book down the road.
What is here is brilliant. The parallel storylines play off of one another perfectly without the need to explain or overburden the parallels. The use of splash-page sketch portraits also hits all of the best emotional notes.
My only gripe is that it ends too quickly. The final pages have an emotional resonance that far outstrips the slim story we’ve gotten up to that point. Another 100 pages or so spent getting to know and understand these characters and their relationships more would have given those final pages a truly sublime impact. Simply “sitting” with these characters longer would transform this book from very good to exceptional. This is one of the challenges of comics creation: the amount of time it takes to produce is much longer than the time it takes to read, which means that the pacing of longer works is very hard for cartoonists to judge.
On the plus side, after reading this, I’m persuaded that Van Sciver’s best work is still to come. And based on what he’s still producing in his Blammo anthology, he’s got much more memoir material to draw from. Perhaps this short book will end up being merely the beginning of a much longer, much more powerful book down the road.
August 14, 2019
One of those adult graphic novels where nothing really happens. A guy reminisces about his crappy childhood and doesn't seem to draw any actual conclusions from it, whines about how hard it is to be a cartoonist, and breaks up with his girlfriend. Meh.
March 14, 2019
I like Noah Van Sciver's autobiographical work, I would say, more than I like his fictional stories. All are drawn and painted with mastery of technique, strong character and color sense like no other but, to me this book stands out as a collection of stories he was MEANT to tell - and edit and string together in this format. The order of the stories, the way they flowed into each other, the larger illustrations between stories or chapters were all marvelous. This is so personal it can't go wrong - it oozes truth, history and personality. It's a quick read (I want to re-read it) but it's meaningful and quality. I think there is not too much of any story line or too little, really. The book covers his family's mormonism, his poor upbringing, interest in dinosaurs and his whole family's interest in art and drawing. The book feels full of information but not too crowded. A good read and a great work.
August 8, 2024
This was a very quick read. Finished it in under an hour.
Perhaps autobios aren’t my jam. This book felt like its only for the NVS diehards who want a closer look at his life. I myself am definitely a fan of him. It was interesting to see his backstory. I don’t think I’ve seen this from many other cartoonists.
I didn’t find it very entertaining though. Which to me is a problem when you are reading for entertainment. It was written and drawn nicely, just the content didn’t have me very engaged.
If you want to read more about Noah Van Scivers childhood and 20s then I’d recommend reading this. However, I don’t think it’s worth multiple reads so maybe get it from the library or hoopla instead of purchasing (like I did)
Perhaps autobios aren’t my jam. This book felt like its only for the NVS diehards who want a closer look at his life. I myself am definitely a fan of him. It was interesting to see his backstory. I don’t think I’ve seen this from many other cartoonists.
I didn’t find it very entertaining though. Which to me is a problem when you are reading for entertainment. It was written and drawn nicely, just the content didn’t have me very engaged.
If you want to read more about Noah Van Scivers childhood and 20s then I’d recommend reading this. However, I don’t think it’s worth multiple reads so maybe get it from the library or hoopla instead of purchasing (like I did)
September 13, 2019
Noah Van Sciver reveals a lot of painful memories in this graphic novel memoir. He cuts back and forth (and subtle draws connections between) his memories of growing up, with more recent reflections on his experiences early in his career as he navigates a difficult relationship.
Having read some of his other works ("The Hypo", "More Mundane", and the three "Fante Bukowski" volumes), I can see how many of the themes in his work come from life experience -- particularly the difficulties faced by artists, the failure of many people to understand true poverty, and how self-doubt, anger, and depression are life-long challenges. It's raw, emotional, and painful, and beautiful.
Having read some of his other works ("The Hypo", "More Mundane", and the three "Fante Bukowski" volumes), I can see how many of the themes in his work come from life experience -- particularly the difficulties faced by artists, the failure of many people to understand true poverty, and how self-doubt, anger, and depression are life-long challenges. It's raw, emotional, and painful, and beautiful.
October 27, 2018
It's a good story, but the two stories don't go together very well. I'm guessing that the story of Noah as a child was supposed to show how it effects his relationship as an adult, but it really comes off like Noah and his girlfriend were simply not right for each other.
The art is fun though. I like the "sketchbook" style Noah has been using for his stories lately.
The art is fun though. I like the "sketchbook" style Noah has been using for his stories lately.
March 14, 2021
Personally, surprisingly, relatable. I saw some of that coming, but some aspects really spoke universally of what it was like in the 80s and 90s as a Mormon kid. Felt like I knew some of his family, or versions of them, and understood some of the panels between panels of these vignettes. Quick-enough read to maybe read it again soon.
March 2, 2021
A bit more disjointed than a lot of his books than I'm used. But still an enjoyable Noah Van Sciver read.
January 5, 2025
Really fantastic. Never read a graphic memoir (or honestly any book!) like this one before. Affecting and so sad and empty and full of things. Only wish there were more.
October 31, 2018
Another excellent entry by The Noah Van Sciver.
June 29, 2021
This is the first of Noah Van Sciver’s full graphic novels that I’ve read, and I’m definitely interested in reading more of his stuff. An affecting and funny memoir comic, One Dirty Tree reflects on Van Sciver’s childhood in a large, impoverished Mormon family in New Jersey and its effects on his later life, relationships, and career in comics. Relatively short and easily read, I appreciated his endearing, colorful drawings and detailed, but cartoonish, linework.
It is definitely a melancholic, introspective comic, in spite of a certain self deprecating humor that lightens the mood a bit. Alternating between his childhood, with his many siblings, unfulfilled mother, and bipolar father, and his present (circa 2014), struggling to launch his career in comics while working two other jobs at a bookstore and a Panera as his 30th birthday looms. He depicts his rough upbringing with a mixture of sadness and wistfulness, even as he recalls how he depended upon the church for food and lived without a kitchen, doing dishes in the bathtub, while in his present, he is pensive and self-conscious. His depiction of himself as becoming progressively more monstrous as he feels singled out for his weirdness among his more “normal” significant other and her friends are particularly effective. There are definitely places where I identify with Van Skiver, his childhood interest in fossils and pretending to be a dinosaur and his adulthood lack of a driver’s license, for instance, though my upbringing was comparably normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Van Sciver has written.
It is definitely a melancholic, introspective comic, in spite of a certain self deprecating humor that lightens the mood a bit. Alternating between his childhood, with his many siblings, unfulfilled mother, and bipolar father, and his present (circa 2014), struggling to launch his career in comics while working two other jobs at a bookstore and a Panera as his 30th birthday looms. He depicts his rough upbringing with a mixture of sadness and wistfulness, even as he recalls how he depended upon the church for food and lived without a kitchen, doing dishes in the bathtub, while in his present, he is pensive and self-conscious. His depiction of himself as becoming progressively more monstrous as he feels singled out for his weirdness among his more “normal” significant other and her friends are particularly effective. There are definitely places where I identify with Van Skiver, his childhood interest in fossils and pretending to be a dinosaur and his adulthood lack of a driver’s license, for instance, though my upbringing was comparably normal. I’m looking forward to seeing what else Van Sciver has written.
February 18, 2019
This was a random find at my local library. Noah Van Sciver is new to me, but this graphic novel reminded me of others that I really like in the graphic memoir genre, like Julia Wertz and zines by Clutch McBastard. His artwork is just complex enough for me, I like this style. The story fluctuates between details about his childhood (growing up Mormon in New Jersey, too many kids in the family, being poor, his dad's mental health and other issues) and present day life (struggling to make it as a comic artist, relationship troubles). If anything, the only flaw here is that I wish there were more of it, that he had been able to delve a lot more into his past stories. I laughed out loud several times; really enjoyed this and want to check out more from this author.
March 17, 2019
It's possible that one reason I like this so much is that I originally saw it a bit at a time in serialized form: page by page, Van Sciver's ridiculously expressive drawings and sharp dialogue make you willing to be carried wherever it might be taking you, whereas reading it all at once makes it more apparent that there's not a whole lot of organization to it and it feels brief. But that doesn't mean it's not effective; by the last few pages, in which grown-up Noah loses his relationship while young Noah loses his terrible family house, I was completely involved and getting just as weepy as the first time I'd seen it.
There's a very obvious theme regarding the artist's struggle to connect with people who aren't as worried about money as he is, and to justify his pursuit of a non-lucrative art form after growing up in poverty. What's not spelled out, but is an equally good reason for putting the childhood story side-by-side with the present-day relationship story, is that if you grew up in a crowded and chaotic environment where everything was weird for reasons beyond your control, and then you find yourself allegedly grown up and independent, it's easy for the relatively nice and non-threatening adult world to make you feel defective if you haven't mastered it; I can relate to this. Even though the child and adult segments are clearly drawn by the same person, they look and feel like two entirely different worlds, with the adult one being more coherent but also somehow less real. The past is full of expressionistic visual effects; the present is entirely literal except for Noah himself who sometimes devolves into a mangy monster, and when we reach the final breaking point of the relationship, instead of emotions being manifested in any visible way there's total darkness. And the most "adult" line by one definition ("I hope it's sex!") is also the most pathetic.
I really like how Van Sciver depicts his Mormon upbringing; while it's clear that he considers the church generally bogus and a major part of what was wrong with his family, he doesn't really say anything judgmental but just tries to convey accurately what he observed. The same goes for the character of his father, a sometimes scary person with many problems, but very specifically and lovingly described.
This material possibly could've been made into a longer and/or less anecdotal book, but does it need to be? No, I think it's just about right.
There's a very obvious theme regarding the artist's struggle to connect with people who aren't as worried about money as he is, and to justify his pursuit of a non-lucrative art form after growing up in poverty. What's not spelled out, but is an equally good reason for putting the childhood story side-by-side with the present-day relationship story, is that if you grew up in a crowded and chaotic environment where everything was weird for reasons beyond your control, and then you find yourself allegedly grown up and independent, it's easy for the relatively nice and non-threatening adult world to make you feel defective if you haven't mastered it; I can relate to this. Even though the child and adult segments are clearly drawn by the same person, they look and feel like two entirely different worlds, with the adult one being more coherent but also somehow less real. The past is full of expressionistic visual effects; the present is entirely literal except for Noah himself who sometimes devolves into a mangy monster, and when we reach the final breaking point of the relationship, instead of emotions being manifested in any visible way there's total darkness. And the most "adult" line by one definition ("I hope it's sex!") is also the most pathetic.
I really like how Van Sciver depicts his Mormon upbringing; while it's clear that he considers the church generally bogus and a major part of what was wrong with his family, he doesn't really say anything judgmental but just tries to convey accurately what he observed. The same goes for the character of his father, a sometimes scary person with many problems, but very specifically and lovingly described.
This material possibly could've been made into a longer and/or less anecdotal book, but does it need to be? No, I think it's just about right.
December 21, 2018
One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver is an autobiography that focuses on three distinct times in the artist's life: his childhood in the 90s in NJ in a large, poor Mormon family, his relationship at around his 30th birthday, and 2017 when he's framing the telling of the story of his childhood and relationship.
Contrary to other reviewers, I thought the stories worked well together; however, I think they would have worked much better if the artist went deeper into each time period and told a fuller story. At times, there are many panels, sometimes a whole page dedicated to one moment, while the significance of the moment is not clear. For example, a whole page is dedicated to a strange dad-daughter conversation about Mariah Carey (who's singing on TV). This and many other "memories" must be significant since the artist includes them in the narrative, yet their significance or meaning for the artist is not clear. Often it feels like the artist is just scratching the surface, and like a troubled client who is trying to talk to their therapist, but failing, he needs to work at it more, dig deeper, bring out the whys and hows.
Recommended for those who like old houses, bathtubs, and cookies for breakfast.
Contrary to other reviewers, I thought the stories worked well together; however, I think they would have worked much better if the artist went deeper into each time period and told a fuller story. At times, there are many panels, sometimes a whole page dedicated to one moment, while the significance of the moment is not clear. For example, a whole page is dedicated to a strange dad-daughter conversation about Mariah Carey (who's singing on TV). This and many other "memories" must be significant since the artist includes them in the narrative, yet their significance or meaning for the artist is not clear. Often it feels like the artist is just scratching the surface, and like a troubled client who is trying to talk to their therapist, but failing, he needs to work at it more, dig deeper, bring out the whys and hows.
Recommended for those who like old houses, bathtubs, and cookies for breakfast.
August 7, 2023
I know, I need to make my way to the Fante/Bukowski trifecta (and maybe St. Cole or Hypo) but this popped up as the next Van Sciver scribbler.
More auto-bio-graphic action, is it just me or does the cover look like an old late 70's ABC cartoon pilot. And I'm getting weirdly Sendak/Carole King vibes from the artwork this time (Van Sciver's monster metamorphosis sends me to Sendak as well, I like it as both a self-defense and self-denigration move by the main "character." Well definitely sloppier, as per the One Dirty Tree title and the spaghetti sauce ring around the shower collar)
I think I'll go listen to some Warren Zevon (not just "Werewolves" but "Poor Poor Pitiful" lord have mercy on me). That filthy house and crazee upbringing (8 seems to be *more* than enough), in a weird way a reverse gold mine?
Nah, not really but that "cleanest walls" comment towards the end had a least a mild undercurrent of lament for me? Peace to Noah and his family (including his brother from the other book I read), there's a place for all of us in this messy world.
More auto-bio-graphic action, is it just me or does the cover look like an old late 70's ABC cartoon pilot. And I'm getting weirdly Sendak/Carole King vibes from the artwork this time (Van Sciver's monster metamorphosis sends me to Sendak as well, I like it as both a self-defense and self-denigration move by the main "character." Well definitely sloppier, as per the One Dirty Tree title and the spaghetti sauce ring around the shower collar)
I think I'll go listen to some Warren Zevon (not just "Werewolves" but "Poor Poor Pitiful" lord have mercy on me). That filthy house and crazee upbringing (8 seems to be *more* than enough), in a weird way a reverse gold mine?
Nah, not really but that "cleanest walls" comment towards the end had a least a mild undercurrent of lament for me? Peace to Noah and his family (including his brother from the other book I read), there's a place for all of us in this messy world.
October 13, 2022
I read this back when I worked on Noah's Wikipedia page for work, but I forgot to review it! It is very short--you can read it in about an hour. It represents an important part of the Mormon experience: what it's like to be in a big family, poor, Mormon, and living outside of Utah. All of the art is in COLOR!! and Van Sciver uses that color to really convey the emotions of being a neglected child. He alternates scenes from his childhood with scenes from his life as cartoonist around the time he turned 30. The way he turned himself into a little monster when he talked about becoming a professional cartoonist was kind of funny and relatable. He doesn't take a "side" with church issues, but he does mention how his family ate from the bishop's storehouse and everyone saw his family as a bit weird.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews