EmiTown, A Sketch Diary by Emi lenox.
For me to actually review this book I would first have to tell you about the author because Emitown is basically a bunch of real life encounters and experiences as seen through the eyes of Emi Lenox. Lenox is a 27yr old who lives in Portland, Oregon with her (as she calls him) smelly dog Henry. She started of as an intern for Brett Warnock who is in charge of productions and is also a co-publisher at Top Shelf.
This is where Emi began to chronicle her life through funny notes and amazing hand drawn illustrations. EmiTown began as a personal diary but her friends encouraged her to put her diary up online to share it with the world and it is here that she gained acclaim. With further encouragement she set up a table at Emerald City Comic Con where she was noticed by publisher Eric Stephenson and thus EmiTown the book was born.
Her book is basically about her life from everything from shopping to falling in love.
Jamie S Rich who is the author of various novels and comic books such as 12 reasons why I love her and Spell Checker who introduces the book, explains the book best by summing it up into one sentence.
“Her (Emi) diary chronicles her own odd behaviour, as well as the often offensive and baffling behaviour of others.”
This is quite true from deranged homeless encounters to racial jokes EmiTown can sometimes be quite baffling but in a hilarious way. She invites you into this funny scripted and beautifully illustrated personal space of hers that always seems to start each chapter with a page number and song title. I taught this was quite cool and interesting because I eventually found myself as I read on listening to the play-list with the page number. It gave me a better feeling and enjoyment from the book as-well as the feelings she was trying to portray at the given time.
As I deviled further into the book I was also introduced to some of her various characters such as Jamestown (Emi’s friend), Henry (Emi’s dog), Ocean Girl (who ironically can’t swim) plus many more. These characters help her through every day situations such as her ongoing coffee addiction, insecurities, depression, love even trivial things such as a possible looming Apocalypse’s, her money woes and her job problems.
This is what makes EmiTown so personal but fun and enjoyable. The book is also I personnaly found very relatable. You find yourself thinking on occasion that either something of similarity has happened to you or you find yourself agreeing with her over things and situations that arise within the book. Such as her numerous run ins with various homeless people or her idea that love is a battlefield. (Pat Benatar said it all.)
Emi herself explains how she likes to draw when she gets sad or mad and this is the reason EmiTown exists because it was a way for her,
‘to be able to work through emotional stress.’
The book is so personal and I for one am glad she decided to share it. The book is fun, quirky and all around entertaining. Some of the drawings are very detailed and others are not. All the drawings have a very manga style edge but with her own twist thrown into the mix, you could say she had created her own unique style. The art is smooth and subtle and very easy on the eyes. The colors work well and all together the art creates Emi’s own signature style.
To rate this book out of 10 I would give it an 8 because I did find it hard to get into at the start but after the first 8 or 9 pages the book just seemed to read itself. I would recomend EmiTown to anyone who is looking for a fun entertaining read.
