Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #292003 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781593762155
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From Publishers Weekly
Illustrator Road's overwrought debut novel chronicles the life of Carmencita Gutierrez Alonzo, a young bisexual Cuban-American punk rocker living a life of grungy hedonism in New York City, who traffics in head-scratching asides like, The world as we knew it tried our toxicity, but in our loose pockets we often broke out a malevolent champagne. The plot is sparse; instead, readers are hit with a barrage of vignettes of bar life, parties, drug binges and mostly ill-fated romances. Far better than the text are Road's illustrations, found on nearly every page. Displaying a cinematic eye for composition, Road adorns her novel with memorable illustrations, including a Miami sky full of gun-shaped clouds, and Carmencita and a lover embracing, a tattoo of Elizabeth Taylor visible on his arm. Less happily, the more than a dozen portraits of Carmencita reinforce the text's navel-gazing aspects. Regardless of whether Carmencita is hopelessly shallow or a wounded soul, Road's drawings deserve a better vehicle. (Oct.)
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Review
"Cristy Road's burgeoning multi-media empire really speaks to me....I think the universality of Road's stories is a testament to her writing ability and the proof that the more we think our situation is unique, the more we should realize we have a network of support available." --Punknews.org

"Cristy Road's burgeoning multi-media empire really speaks to me....I think the universality of Road's stories is a testament to her writing ability and the proof that the more we think our situation is unique, the more we should realize we have a network of support available." -- Punknews.org

"Cristy Road's work makes me so happy. Where else can you see drawings of a black genderqueer boy flashing his top surgery scars and grinning, or two girls hitchiking in the desert holding a sign that reads `Indigenous Soverrignty or Bust,' all drawn with love, color, and punk rock grit?" -- Bitch Magazine

Indestructible explores the toxic impact gender bias and proscribed norms have on questioning youth, while encouraging inquiry and protest against social constraints. So powerful is Road's candid portrayal of growing pains, it provides the perfect comfort for angsty, self-loathing youth and sends older readers back down memory lane. -- CURVE Magazine

Road's narrative has an emotional immediacy, a social relevance that makes you believe her voice, makes you belong to her world. You forget how old you are, you are with her--drinking a 32 ounce of beer (`because forties were illegal in Florida'), going to punk shows, listening to a two-minute song for empowerment....The artwork has the same level of immediacy. Road's black and white illustrations are cinematic frames which include vivid action scenes--a sexual encounter, a fist-fight--as well as intimate, candid portraits of Road and her ....Road's novel is a testimony of survival--a powerful reminder of how we must create (and re-create) our identities--whether the mainstream is with us, or not. -- Feminist Review

Review
"Cristy Road's work makes me so happy. Where else can you see drawings of a black genderqueer boy flashing his top surgery scars and grinning, or two girls hitchiking in the desert holding a sign that reads `Indigenous Soverrignty or Bust,' all drawn with love, color, and punk rock grit?"

Customer Reviews

please.
While the artwork is spectacular, the plot of this book is just down right BAD. The main character is self-obsessed and surprisingly adolescent even through her 20's. As a reader, you never discover just exactly why she is so tortured. On top of that, she is unlikable making it difficult to care what happens to her. It is the same old, same old typical over used for 25 plus years punk-rock "cool kids feel MORE, hate MORE and love MORE than squares" story. boo hoo. You just want to slap her and tell her to get over herself. Road should stick with her beautiful artwork and leave the written word alone until she matures.

Bold and energetic
This is a bold and energetic undertaking. I was thrown head first into an unfamiliar world. A trip worth taking.