Todas las bicicletas que tuve

by Powerpaola

In this nonlinear graphic memoir, Powerpaola uses bicycles she’s owned as a vehicle to explore the world, her relationships, her memories ― and herself.

“A bicycle is a machine that you power yourself. You decide where you want to go,” writes cartoonist Powerpaola, as the guiding principle of this graphic memoir. All My Bicycles is a story that never really begins, existing all at once in Paola’s memory. The book illustrates Powerpaola’s relationships through her many in fragments, it takes her back to her great loves and losses, friendships, and disappointments.

In remembering a bicycle, a manhole, an alligator, or a necklace, Powerpaola reflects upon these items in her consciousness without finding a concrete solution. Paola’s memories arrive abruptly and leave just as fast, creating a pathway through herself she can only find in moving forward. All My Bicycles is a glimpse into how exploring these fleeting tangible moments―of physical objects, of traveling and seeing a new city, of even the end of a relationship―is an exploration of self.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Memoir, Nonfiction, Biography, Womens

120 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2022

About the author

Paola Andrea Gaviria Silguero, más conocida como Power Paola o Powerpaola, es una artista plástica, historietista e ilustradora colombo-ecuatoriana. Su trabajo es generalmente de corte autobiográfico y explora el dibujo, la narración, lo cotidiano y la interpretación de textos.​ Además de tratar temas relacionados con la sexualidad, el feminismo, las relaciones familiares y la búsqueda de la identidad personal. Es parte del colectivo de cómic internacional "Chicks on comics"​ y apela a darle visibilidad y difusión al trabajo de las mujeres en el mundo de las tiras cómicas y novelas gráficas.

Reviews

[Fátima Linhares · Rating 3 out of 5]

Memórias da autora associadas às bicicletas que teve. Não achei as histórias nada por aí além, mas a ideia é interessante e o traço e as cores cores agradaram-me bastante.

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's an interesting idea, a memoir told through the bicycles the author has owned, but it just didn't really connect with me. I thought the art was a bit too rough, too.

(Picked up a review copy through NetGalley)

[Lauringui · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creo que es el libro que más me gustó de Power Paola. Es una suerte de autobiografía ficcional conectadas por un eje temático comun: las bicicletas. Todo sucede alrededor de este objeto y se vincula con los desplazamientos (físicos y emocionales) de distintos vínculos de la autora con la ciudad y sus afectos; con las despedidas y las pérdidas. Hermosísimo.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I'm pretty sure I wasn't the intended demographic for this, even though I tend to be interested in pretty much all things related to bicycles.... Hence my spur of the moment inclination to buy this when I saw it on the shelf in the bookstore.

Still, it was very much something different, ... different voice, different perspective, different art, different approach to storytelling and recollection, etc., ... and there's pretty much always at least some value in that.

And, as I was reading the book, it sparked innumerable memories of bikes (and types of bikes ... and brands) I've owned (ten bikes come to mind pretty quickly, but I expect the number is higher, ... and, like the author, the types vary dramatically) and countries (and cities) I've ridden in ... and I could easily see myself following suit and crafting a memoir using bikes to frame time and place and periods in life and ... but, as they say, I digress.

Consumer riff: I really enjoyed/appreciated the cover formatting, not just in terms of the colors and shelf appeal, but, from a production quality standpoint, the volume felt very (OK, surprisingly) nice in my hands.

[angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

nola found this in steamboat springs and i read it on my flight back to sf next to kaden n allison

[Méli · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bike a lonely road
The only one that I have ever known

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a review of the very artsy graphic novel All My Bicycles, which tells the story of a life up to now—its “Eras” in Swiftyspeak: losses and milestones—through the bicycles the author owned at the time. It’s a unique and reflective approach, using something as simple as a bike to represent personal history.

The artwork is muddy and unpolished, but in this case, it works, adding to the book’s raw, introspective feel.

A curated soundtrack is woven throughout, so bring your Spotify for the ride.

While this wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, it did make me reflect on the bikes of my own life and how they could serve as generational markers if I really thought about it. I never named any of mine, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have fond benchmarking memories from each one.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first time reading a graphic novel memoir and I am so delighted that All My Bicycles is my entry point to the genre. All My Bicycles is Powerpaola's memoir as told through the various bicycles she's owned throughout her life. This novel is gorgeous both in the illustrations and prose; Powerpaola's style is dreamy and captivating.

I loved seeing her bicycles as a method of freedom and also how they came into and out of her life. This was especially touching as a cyclist myself, I remember all my bicycles, where they took me both physically and emotionally - and this memoir does an incredible job of reflecting all of that.

I truly can't recommend the novel enough, it's a fairly quick read and her illustrations will continue to stick with me.

Many thanks to the publisher, Fantagraphics, for providing me an advanced reader copy in exchange for my review.

[Bill · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Nonlinear” is right. The time and place jumps combined with sparse story details doesn’t allow any of the life episodes hazily glimpsed to create much meaning.

The black and white art with brief shocks of yellow do combine with the minimal words to create a sad feel and I’ll remember the author as a lonely person who was left by or left herself from various friends and lovers, but always loved exploring cities on the various bikes she used to create the “chapter” headings which was the only sense of structure this had.

[Ceel · Rating 4 out of 5]

“El amor me enseña a pensar. Todo se vuelve un objeto de estudio. No somos nada sino las circunstancias y las interpretaciones”

[Andre Aguiar]

quando você desenha e escreve, compreende os eventos que acontecem na vida. deixam de parecer surpresas. são revelações sistemáticas do seu próprio destino. o amor me ensina a pensar. tudo se transforma em objeto de estudo. não somos nada senão as circunstâncias e as interpretações.

[Víctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una novela gráfica preciosa. Y como no me iba a gustar, y como no me iba a llegar si habla de las bicicletas, los desplazamientos, el amor y el fin de los vínculos, uniendo todo esto de una manera preciosa. Como si hubiese sido escrito para mi.

[Mariana Pascutti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nada como percorrer as ruas da vida. Perder as coisas sem dar tchau.

[Chris Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another 2024 Fantagraphics release. Is it possible to be romantic about bikes? I've never been a big bike guy but knowing some folks who are, I absolutely believe it. This was a nice, mostly black and white with some pops of color, non-linear graphic novel about former relationships, loves, losses and the bikes everyone had at the time. Stories revolve around riding bikes, losing bikes... a quick read, but enjoyed this one.

[Aaron Esthelm · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounding up to 4.

I think this was a pretty good emotional look into someone's life and their hardships. While I dont think I got a lot from it. I will never bawk at the chance to take a glimpse into someone else's story. We each have a lived experience and everyone's is beautiful and this one is no different. I am glad I got the chance to read it

[Teo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this may have gone over my head because I lacked some cultural background knowledge. Or maybe I wasn't in the right headspace. It was interesting, but just never really managed to really hook me.

[Guada Fernandez Viero · Rating 5 out of 5]

No no de lo mejor que leí en el año lejos

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic. Intimate and relatable. It’s fragmentation made it easy to read rather than difficult and packed with symbolism to think about.

[José Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

No lo iba a añadir porque, de repente, pienso que las aplicaciones como esta o como Letterbox funcionan para ponerle un número al consumo del arte (que se supone que no es consumido, sino experimentado), y que no quería verme como una persona que añadiera libros de cómics para inflar sus números de libros leídos, pero tener esas dudas es una estupidez y, como dice otro de los libros de Powerpaola (Chicks I Know), el cómic es un poco subversivo, un respiro que se cuela entre la literatura.

No sé si los libros de Powerpaola sean subversivos (tampoco sé si lo quieran ser), pero son libros que están vivos. Siempre me dejan con la sensación de que alguien me está acompañando en el acto de existir en este planeta. Y no se me ocurre un mejor ejemplo de la historia de vida que la historia de las bicicletas. Andar en bici es una acción que combina la confianza de tener que seguir, el pasado de haber aprendido a andar y la libertad de poder hacerlo. Espero que Powerpaola viva 200 años y aprenda muchas cosas más porque siempre me va a gustar saber qué es lo que hace de su vida.

[Gonza M Fontán · Rating 5 out of 5]

Qué bonito es coger un libro sin saber lo que te vas a encontrar y que sea un libro que parece escrito para ti. Me encanta un concepto común que se usa para explicar de manera mucho más implícita otras cosas y me gustan las historias de frase simple e impactante y me gusta el juego con solo dos colores que guían la historia y apoyan todo un texto y unas ilustraciones que son maravilla pura y es que simplemente estoy enamorada de este libro y pienso pasarlo a todas mis amigas.

[Carlosfelipe Pardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro donde se nota el amor que tiene la autora / dibujante por sus bicicletas y por la bicicleta como objeto (además de historias donde la bicicleta tiene un rol principal o tangencial pero siempre las tiene por ahí). Muy bonito libro.

[E Z · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parfois le manque de chronologie est un peu trop confusant, mais l'idée est beaucoup trop cool, le style graphique fait partie de ceux qui me plaisent le plus et I'll always relate to a former emo/alt girly story.
🚴

[Regina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está muy bonito y tiene partes que me transmitieron genuina emoción por la vida, aunque algunas cosas no entendí

[José Miguel Tomasena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bonito libro. Con un estilo gráfico personal, basado en el blanco y negro con pinceles, manchas, caprichosas manchas, y el uso puntual del color amarillo y rojo.
La historia está amarrada al recuerdo de las bicis. Tiene una estructura reticular, no lineal, en la que aparecen símbolos que unen la historia, aunque no sé exactamente cómo : el collar de perlas amarillas, el cocodrilo, el agujero negro...
Muy bonito. Tengo ganas de leerlo por 2a vez.

[Paulina · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Las bicicletas son máquinas impulsadas por una misma. Una decide hacia dónde quiere desplazarse”

[Kelley Matthews · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was definitely not the intended market for this book.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet but brief graphic novel memoir that marks the author’s milestones in life by the bicycle she was riding at the time.

3/5

[Grace Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bikes bikes bikes bikes bikes

[Carol Tilley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

[Bere Danon · Rating 2 out of 5]

j’ai pas tout compris, et j’ai pas trop aimé le style d’ecriture de l’auteur, surtout avec les sauts dans le temps en avant et arrière… bref l’idee est trop interessante mais pas convaincue du tout