We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe

by Merrill Markoe

In her first ever graphic memoir, four-time Emmy-winning comedy writer Merrill Markoe unearths her treasured diaries, long kept under lock and key, to illustrate the hilarious story of her preteen and teen years and how she came to realize that her secret power was her humor. Wielding her layered and comically absurd style, Markoe takes readers back through her time as a Girl Scout, where she learned that “scouting” was really more about learning housewifery skills, to her earliest crushes on uniquely awful boys and her growing obsession with television.

Much has changed in our world since Markoe wrote in her diaries, or has it? Climate change wasn’t yet a rallying call, but the growing hole in the ozone preoccupied Markoe’s young mind. No one was flocking to the desert for Burning Man, but Markoe readily partook in the Ken Kesey Acid Test. As she charts the divide between her adolescence and adulthood, Markoe questions and berates her younger self, revealing how much is opaque to us in those young years.

Perfect for fans of Roz Chast, Allie Brosh, and Lynda Barry, We Saw Scenery is a laugh-out-loud story of a girl growing up, told from the perspective of the woman she became, and it will speak to all who wanted to understand themselves in the midst of their own maturing.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Memoir, Humor, Nonfiction, Biography, Comics, Comedy

288 pages, Hardcover

First published October 13, 2020

About the author

An author, a television writer and a sometime standup comedienne.

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea falls flat in execution as the author publishes extracts from her diaries as a tween and teenager in the early 1960s.

For a graphic novel, it is text heavy with each page containing a typeset paragraph of insight from the author in the present day, a typeset diary entry, and a one-panel illustration or cartoon related to the diary entry. At 278 pages, it becomes a drag, especially when a lot of it revolves around crushes or favorite TV shows. Too often the word balloon placement makes it difficult to read the cartoon dialogue in the correct order.

There are some cool tidbits buried throughout, and it is amazing just how much the inner lives of children remain unchanged over the decades, as I recognized recurring themes and ideas from my childhood a decade later and my daughter's 40 years later.

It's a less weird version of Lynda Barry, whose text-heavy work doesn't really do much for me either. See also the similar Fab 4 Mania by Carol Tyler.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea who the author was prior to selecting this book to read. A quick Wikipedia search informs me that she is a somewhat renown comic writer, mostly famous as the woman behind The Letterman show and, for a decade long ago, behind, above and below Letterman himself. So I wouldn’t have known her, I don’t like Letterman, not especially, not the man, not the show. Nor do I really think that diaries should be published and shared, especially childhood ones, but this was genuinely pretty funny. Turns out if you hone comedic skills over the decades, you can actually take something like a blandly cliched diary of a young girl and turn it into something readable.
So that’s basically the book, the preteen and teen years of Markoe, a portrait of an author as a young girl. Growing up with thoroughly unpleasant people who really, really shouldn’t have been parents, who, among other things, are prone to dramatic relocations, during which…she saw scenery.
There’s nothing special here, except for Markoe’s humorous take on things, given from the perspective of age. The art is ok, but the portraiture is weird at times, with a creepy angularity and flatness to faces. The entire thing reads very quickly given the almost 300 page count, but doesn’t offer all that much to recommend itself outside of a some laughs. But then again, any book that'll make me laugh in this day and age is worth a read.

[Peter Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Starts super awesome, a very funny woman looking back at her teenage diaries, stuff like professing undying love for JJ as a teenager, and the adult version of the same person reacts with: Who the fuck is JJ?

But somewhere around the adolescence parts of the book, I lost a little interest.

Maybe adolescence is defined by the person experiencing it thinking they're so unique and different, and then realizing later that they definitely were not unique and different. Because how unique can you be when you're 14? You've barely done anything. My junior prom was themed as Under the Sea. Like Back to the Future. Except I don't think that was on purpose? It could've been, I really didn't have much involvement in planning my prom. By "not much" I mean "absolutely no," although I did show up the following morning to help clean up the prom because I was THAT into this girl who was doing the clean-up. If you asked me now, as an adult, how into a woman I'd have to be to hang out with her the entire previous night, til like 2 am, then show up to a high school to clean up a huge fucking mess of crepe paper at 8 am...I don't know that this woman exists. If someone was like, "It's the most beautiful woman of all time. It's early 2000's Heidi Klum from the poster you had on your bedroom wall!" I'd probably be like..."No offense to Heidi, but...."

It does seem like a weird theme for rural Colorado, nowhere near the ocean...Do kids in Los Angeles have a ranch theme to their proms? Harvest theme? Grandeur of the Rocky Mountains?

You know what else was weird about that prom? The whole gym stank like a weird rubbery smell because they laid out this huge mat over the gym floor, I guess so our shoes wouldn't fuck up the basketball court, which is the site of any reputable prom.

How has no one done a basketball theme for prom? It's right fucking there. You wouldn't have to do anything. Everyone could show up in basketball uniforms, which are comfy as hell and still allow for a scandalous amount of skin if you're that girl and you go with a 70's retro basketball thing.

Other themes that would be cool:
+50 Years From Now: Everyone shows up looking like old people. This would probably be a little offensive to the olds, but what the hell are they doing at a prom? This theme does double-duty because anyone who's offended, keep an eye on 'em.

+Middle School Dance: All girls on one side, all boys on the other. Very awkward. Everyone gets a suit 2 sizes too big.

Oh, by the way, tuxedo shops? Fuck you. Tux rentals charge you out the ass for some shit that doesn't even fit right, then they demand you return the thing by like 10 am the next day, which you KNOW is just so they can charge you extra because half of the people haven't event gone to bed at that point. What the hell do they need a bunch of high schooler size tuxes for first thing on a Sunday? I'm sure they get RIGHT to work cleaning them and prepping them for a wedding that's just barely legally recognized based on the ages of the participants happening that same day.

I have some advice for parents: Take your kid to Men's Warehouse, buy them the cheapest suit that fits, and send them to prom in it. Then you can sell that shit later. It's almost the same cost, it's not covered in anyone else's pre cum, and it's probably never been barfed in, on, or around. Thank god the theme of prom isn't black light, because the dance floor would be blinding at crotch level.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

So glad to have received a copy of this ARC from Netgalley! In this excellent graphic memoir, comedy writer Merrill Markoe gives us a look at her girlhood journals, providing wry and self-deprecating commentary alongside lively and humorous illustrations, all of which made me laugh aloud. Markoe grew up in Miami and California, in the 50s and 60s, and, for some reason, I was expecting for her adolescence to feel more removed from my own 90s girlhood. But, wow - I could so easily relate her diaries to my own! My only complaint is in the abrupt ending;
I would have liked more of a wrap-up and a reflection on the diaries themselves. I understand that this book only covers young Merrill, and she gives her a clear send-off, but there is no lead up to to the goodbye, or explanation for why the book ends where it does.

Relatable, smart, and funny, I recommend this quick read to fans of graphic memoir, coming-of-age comedy, and the diary form.

[Jessica Mae Stover]

If you like Pretend It’s a City, then you’ll like this, and if you like this, then you’ll like Pretend It’s a City!

You’ll also like Honor Girl and Spinning and the other top, graphic novel memoirs, as well as This One Summer, which is fiction that reads like a graphic memoir. Of course those are all coming-of-age stories about young people, and We Saw Scenery sneakily is, too. The difference is that the authors of those graphic novel memoirs published earlier in their respective careers. Scenery delivers a fresh lens via the passage of time and the benefits of decades removed: herein we have the elder self confronting the younger self.

PS: “Who the f ♥ ♥ k is J.J.?” should be a niche internet meme. Tell me you see it!

[Michael Martin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am usually a fan of Merrill Markoe’s writing and comedy. Unfortunately these early diary entries/memories fall far short of the ground that Lynda Barry has paved before, much more successfully. I would rate the writing of this book 3, and the unappealing artwork 1. Average rating for book: 2.

It is one I am glad I did not purchase, reading a library copy. Not only did it fail to make me laugh, but I barely even smiled as I read it.

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfectly captures teen angst with a large dose of humor.

[Ellie Hanjian · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a sick ending to my graphic novel challenge. So freaking funny. I want to be Merrill markoe

[J Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

We Saw Scenery: The Early Diaries of Merrill Markoe is a hilarious and poignant graphic memoir. The situations, while specific to her and the era, will still be relatable to any adult reflecting on their own youth.

I am just a tad younger than her so I could relate fairly well to a lot of what she went through. In addition to the basic idea that as children and adolescents we blow everything out of proportion, it was also fun to remember the big differences in life then versus now. For instance, without even commenting directly on the current trend of putting every detail of one's life on social media, she still makes the comparison when she emphasizes the need for a key to protect her very private diaries. The very same type of information used nowadays to get followers and likes. Is it any wonder that people are so fragile today? What could break us if even a portion got out years ago is now broadcast on various forms of toxic social media, then people are surprised when the cruelty starts.

But I digress. Markoe really makes this a fun trip even through the painful parts, and when she speaks with her younger self the banter is just about what one would expect. Those were perhaps my favorite parts of the book.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a woman of a certain age, an embarrassing diary (complete with klunky key) from her teen or preteen years was de rigueur: embarrassingly shallow, embarrassingly self-obsessed, . . .and hysterically funny for anyone else to get their hands on. In this spot-on self-illustrated graphic novel in diary format, journalist and TV writer Merrill Markoe hits all the marks with her 1960's (pop-)cultural references, family dramas, and so-called romantic interludes as only the voice of a cleverly dyspeptic teenage girl can do. Oh, and it's a particularly nice touch that the older, wiser adult Markoe makes frequent appearances throughout the book, to dialogue with her younger self and alternately offer withering criticism or big-sisterly empathy, as the situation should require. The book's title makes reference to the cross-country family road trip that the Markoes endured for the purpose of relocating from Florida to San Francisco, mid-diary, and as such seems to be more of an ironic than a particularly pivotal choice, in terms of summarizing the book as a whole. In terms of unabashedly frank and funny and poignant graphic memoirs, Roz Chast, you have company! Would bet that a sequel is in the works somewhere in the recesses of Ms. Markoe's zany brain.

[Ollie · Rating 3 out of 5]

About two thirds of the way in, I thought I might be the wrong person to review this book, because I wasn’t aware that I knew who Merrill Markoe was. But then it turns out I did, and it made me want to start over with that information in mind. Markoe was the head writer and creator of the Late Show with David Letterman and I read many of her insights in the Letterman biography that came out years ago. Then I thought, “Well, I formed an opinion about this book mostly as an objective reader, and maybe that’s a good thing.”

The Best Show giveth and we taketh. The “popular” podcast and its crabappley-yet-charming host Tom Scharpling is both a source for some of the best comedy you can get out of two dudes talking to each other on the phone, and a haven for outrage against the relatively insignificant. Occasionally, they have a guest on, and when this guest was Merrill Markoe, it turned into quite an interesting segment that motivated me to get this book she was plugging “We Saw Scenery.” And here we are.

We Saw Scenery is a chronicle of early childhood/teen diary entries from the young Merrill Markoe, all illustrated by the author. In it, she doesn’t just highlight entries that played a major role in her development as an adult, but she also offers retrospective analysis, trying to reach out to her younger self to either console her or give advice. This book is highly entertaining, full of sharp wit and humor, and told from the perspective of someone who welcomes us into the less-than-flattering parts of their life. It’s funny to see that some of our childhood moments hold true no matter what age, sex, or part of the world we grow up in. We all struggle with our parents, yearn for acceptance from our peers, and get way too carried away in matters of love. Also interesting is how Markoe discovers just what details of her childhood experiences her brain (or hippocampus) chose to remember, painting a whole different picture of the events.

The artwork in We Saw Scenery his hard to describe as it’s not exactly professional, but at the same time highly detailed. It’s got a grade school quality to it, which I’m not sure is intentional. Then again, my review copy is black and white and the beauty of the artwork might be hard to appreciate in that format.

We Saw Scenery is a unique and engaging book that everyone can relate to. It’s also a window into the world that made one of the most unique writers in comedy.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well. I am generally a fan of graphic biographies and memoirs, but this one was difficult for me. I can totally relate to the idea of revisiting your childhood diaries, as my mum is a prodigious diarist and I have maintained one most of my life too. But the structure of this book left me confused. Clearly Markoe is working on some stuff here. She shows a lot of discontent with her childhood, having what seems like a terrible relationship with her mother, especially, feeling like an outcast among her peer group, and yearning for relationships with boys but utterly failing—and feeling really shitty about it—until she was hanging out with artsy beatniks at the end of high school (in the mid-1960s). Considering that this is a woman who has made herself a fairly successful career as a comedy writer, this book is pretty bleak. I suppose many comedians have pretty sad, fucked up lives, so this shouldn’t be a surprise, but if this was supposed to be funny, I didn’t find it so. Also I kept getting thrown off by the order of the speech bubbles in sections with dialogue or exchanges between characters (mostly adult Markoe speaking to her younger self), and also the chronology, which jumped around a lot. I’ve read a fair amount of graphics and I found this a poor design choice—it really messed up the rhythm of the reading for me. Altogether it was fairly disappointing and I won’t be in any kind of hurry to read anything else she has written.

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

after much debate between a 2 and a 3 i have decided this is 2 star rating for several reasons. mainly - i didn’t enjoy this and forced myself to finish. things ended abruptly. the art was not my favorite thing. and this was about a time period i cannot relate to living through. it also seemed to just scratch the surface in a random type of unfulfilled way meanwhile depicting events i didn’t really care about. who she liked in 7th grade? who she liked in 3rd? okeeeee…. she talks about things i didn’t relate to such as calling in radio djs and watching really early shows. in some ways i can respect what she’s done. talking about using comedy and her art and writing to get to a happy place for her. talking about the rocky relationship with parents - i get that part. but she makes these random unnecessary comments to the audience that like hint people just already know these things about her and i just don’t because like… i’m sorry but who are you? that’s rude but basically it comes down to this is not a person i relate to because of generational differences. i did enjoy how she kept a diary though and could compare her memory to what she recorded. she basically brings up the question - why do we remember the certain things that we do? but she really doesn’t make much comment on it or answer it.

[Carol Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to confess that I have a close relationship with Merrill Markoe. She is one year younger than I am and I also kept a diary during those embarrassing awkward years of middle school/high school. She captures so perfectly the routine, the boredom, the strange things that are captured by your hippocampus (the hippo is perfectly portrayed in her drawings). Since this is a graphic book, we see Markoe's actual diary entry which is illustrated in a humorous fashion. She remembers fixing meatsicles for her family; I made meatballs with peanut butter. She describes a sorority she joined in eighth grade where a woman came to tell each girl why she couldn't do modeling - too fat, too thin, too short. An eighth grader girl does not need to hear those things from an adult; she's doing a pretty good job of telling herself those things. I had to wait for a similar experience when I started my first professional job. I don't remember what the class was called but the instructor took all of our measurements and told us who had the perfect body (I still remember who it was - it wasn't me). I didn't go back for the class on make-up!
Anyway, even though this brought back many memories, some painful, from my hippocampus, I loved reading it and finished it in two sessions.

[Raven Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had never heard of Merrill Markoe, but now will look into their other works. Reminiscent of Alison Bechdel's Fun Home style (but a lot less serious), this book about growing up in the late 1950's and through the 1960's through the pages of old diaries (with perfect commentary), Markoe shows us history of the country, their influences and the pains of growing up (brother pains, parent pains and trying to fit in, until you realize you shouldn't). "Flash Nows" (Markoe talking to her younger self, trying to give advice) add to the humor. After all, even if we could give advice to our younger self, would our younger self take it? Illustrations that can be awkward sometimes to see, but fit the story perfectly, literally illustrator this fun and crazy journey.

[cleo s · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a person who is writing journals, I could certainly relate to this book.
This book contains a rare look into the mind of a real teenager. While society today has changed a lot since the 60s, the fundamental thoughts and worries and joys are the same. Authors can do a lot to try and make their characters relatable and realistic, but it's almost impossible to beat a real person's diary. While on one hand the teenager part was close to home, the some of the more specific sixties stuff felt alien. I really liked reading about it and learning.
So, what I'm trying to say is that it is really good! You should read it!

[Jennifer Schultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read if you: Are a big fan of graphic memoirs by women. I've been hoping for a graphic novel/memoir from Merrill Markoe for a long time, and this was worth the wait! Anyone who's looked back at their childhood diaries/writings will particularly empathize and enjoy.

Librarians/booksellers: Graphic memoirs are quite popular at the moment--definitely purchase if your patrons/customers like Roz Chast and other similar memoirists.

Many thanks to Algonquin Books and Edelweiss for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Michael Rudzki · Rating 5 out of 5]

What would you do if you came across some diaries you wrote as a kid? If you're Merrill Markoe, you use them to tell a story of the awkwardness of growing up.

This excellent blend of graphic novel and diary reprints entries from her diaries, with commentary, and imagined conversations with her younger self, by her grown up self.

Both funny and painfully real, this book also ponders the nature of memory - what makes its way from short-term to long-term memory, courtesy of the hippo (-campus).

[Beth]

These excerpts from Merrill Markoe's childhood diary with the adult Markoe chiming in periodically is an enjoyable read with Markoe's trademark humor and wry insight. This particular book is also illustrated by her, which adds an added layer of interest. It's not quite like reading one of Roz Chast's autobiographical illustrated books, but it was close. My biggest disappointment was simply that it ended too soon. I'd have liked to have read on into her early adult life. This book will appeal to people interested in women's memoirs, women and comedy/humor, and illustrated memoir.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book as an ARC. An enjoyable read. While I can't relate to the specific situations provided in this book, being a different age, religion, and gender, it's all relatable to what I went through growing up and I suspect to many other people as well.
The book ends eventually without any great reveal, so I will have to wait until the release of Markoe's middle diaries. If they even exist.

[Rhonda Lomazow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Merrill Markoe had me hysterical from the first pages.Her drawings her relationship with her family and the icing on the cake her diaries with the key. We are of the same generation I also have my diaries packed away in a closet.with all my oh so not important entries.This was a perfect read a light fun book full of nostalgia for me Will be gifting to friends who I k ow will enjoy a good laughThanks Algonquin for my arc

[Robin Blankenship · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I liked the set of her present self talking to her past self. It was engaging but my issues was it was kind of hard to follow sometimes, it just seemed all over the place. The parts I wish she would have elaborate she just glanced at. And other things she spent forever on were not what I was interested in. But over all a good book. She has a nice style and her wit shows through.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book was one that I requested after reading a review of, months ago, and forgot about until my request came in. I hadn’t read anything by Markoe before but I loved the way that adult and teen Merrill were in conversation with one another. It’s mostly an exploration of adolescent diaries and how memories are formed (or forgotten) through life. Not exactly uplifting but extremely relatable.

[Chris Breitenbach · Rating 3 out of 5]

Markoe is a late-night legend, almost single-handedly responsible for the greatness of early Late Night with David Letterman and one of my heroes. This is, for the most part, is an earnest autobiographical graphic novel that draws heavily on Markoe's middle-school diaries. I especially liked when her present self interacts with her awkward teenager self, though the graphic novel meanders a little too much and I found my interest waning by the end.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an insightful, funny, and relatable reflection on a girl's formative years as examined by her much older self. The conversations between the author's two versions of herself -- as a child/teenager and as her older current self -- made for some of the best content in the book. Though Markoe's acerbic wit was present throughout and gave me quite a few good chuckles, somehow I was left wanting something more within the pages.

[Bonnie Dinka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a book I had to keep reminding myself to get back to, but once I was back to it…had some easy laughs and relatable moments.
Towards the end, I started to appreciate the reflective quality of her looking back at her old self. Towards the end, I also had an even sourer taste in my mouth towards her judgy parents ( yuck).
It was also pretty helpful to get a kind of built in timeline of Beat culture history.

[Emilia P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh! I've read plenty of this childhood/youth reflective stuff, and old Merrill needed to have way more of an editorial/momentum building voice than she did to suck you in. The drawings weren't bad, but they also were nothing overwhelming, and I....just liked this better when it was Carol Tyler basically eek.

[Chris Selin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun look back into the author’s life through old journals and new illustrations. I particularly love when the teenage self refuses to listen to the current self’s advise and, frankly, doesn’t want to hang with her older self. This is probably what would happen to all of us if actually confronted with our future selves.

[Deirdre · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a quick and hilarious read. I love the images and the writing. Even though Merrill is a couple years older than me I understood her school-age angst about boys and her appearance. I had no idea who she was going into this but learning that she’s a writer for television shows makes perfect sense. I will be looking for her other books now.

[Brenda Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Merrill Markoe perfectly captures the awkwardness of childhood and young adulthood. I really like how she places her adult self in the narration and makes a character out of the hippocampus. Not only does it make the story more interesting for me as an adult reader, it helps mediate a lot of the misperceptions common to young people and serves as a kind of adult discussion for a younger reader.