Seminal graphic novel by the revered Dan Clowes. This is not your father's comic book. Originally serialized in Eightball, now available in a collected edition. (Note: it is significantly different to consume all in one sitting)

Using disconcerting techniques from surrealism to erotica, this is in a vein with Joyce: You understand it, and it changes you; or you assume it's just bizarre and nothing happens.

Although it's hard to define a plot as such, the swiftly-paced images give the book a sheen of paranoia or noir. Orifice-free dogs, a smiling advertising figure for a fascist collector's symbol (plus a wart on Hitler's neck), and conspiracy created where it doesn't already exist. It's the sort of story-telling that wouldn't work in other media. Clowes' mastery lies not in the absurdity, but in his fantastic facial expressions.

He has later given an explanation that this novel is probably his subconscious railing against his first marriage. However, a good hour or two spent with these pages may reveal manifold meanings.