The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp

     The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp is a coming-of-age story about a high school senior named Sutter. After his parents divorced and his sister moved out, it seemed Sutter lived alone even though residing with his disinterested mother (who sees too much of her ex-husband in her son) and step-father (more of a robot than a man, it seems). Sutter knows all the funny punchlines, is an expert story-teller, dares to be bold and is the life of every party...but he's starting to notice his friends are drifting away from the wild and wacky, spectacular "now" in search of their promising "nexts."

     Sutter couldn't be happier with his beautiful girlfriend Cassidy, a large, voluptuous goddess. His best friend, Ricky, is in need of a girlfriend and Sutter decides to take the role of matchmaker...and succeeds! But now it seems Ricky's lost interest in adventures, partying and living on the wild side with Sutter. Cassidy gives Sutter the ultimatum to consider her feelings "or else", but he fails while distracted with matchmaking for Ricky and finds himself kicked to the curb. Cassidy was ready for maturity and a little seriousness occasionally and Sutter couldn't commit. His longtime friend Ricky is now caught up in a happy relationship thanks to Sutter but now he's single...and alone with his flask.

     It would seem Sutter exists as much due to oxygen as whiskey. He gives no thought to time of day or location but just opens the flask, takes it straight or mixes with a big gas-station-cup of 7-UP. This leads to poor decisions, but a "fortified" mind, he claims, which gets the laughs and keeps the fun coming. Cassidy even tells her new boyfriend at one point that Sutter probably wouldn't drive half as well sober as drunk it had become such a crutch.

     One night, in a drunken adventure, Sutter ends up parked in one person's yard but passed out in someone else's yard a mile away. Aimee, a paper-delivering girl, stops to examine the corpse on the lawn in the small hours of the morning and discovers he's alive. Wondering where his vehicle is, she agrees to have him ride along, helping deliver papers, while searching for his vehicle. It seems Sutter's not quite finished with Aimee even after finding his car and his interest in helping her out of her shell grows quickly.

Author Tim Tharp

     Aimee goes from shy and reserved with a head full of dreams to drunken and bold in a matter of weeks. She's suddenly acting haphazardly and with no regard for the rules. Her grades drop, she's getting hurt and burning bridges...but she's happy being with Sutter. Has he really helped her at all? He thinks so. His friends think otherwise. This novel is a great reminder that what works for you and makes you happy may not be the best or safest for others.

     Sutter struggles with the concept of a concrete plan for the future in Tharp's novel, The Spectacular Now. He is so content with living moment to moment, carefree. With graduation fast approaching, however, he finds himself thrust into adulthood and caught in a confusing web of love, friends, family and the future. There's no laughing himself out of this one. It's time to grow up. But maybe the Spectacular "Next" isn't for everyone.

     Check out The Spectacular Now from your local library. You can also purchase it from Amazon for your Kindle, as a paperback or audiobook.

Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins: My First Graphic Novel

Road to Perdition by Max Allan Collins is, as you might have guessed, the graphic novel that inspired the Dreamworks film by the same name starring Tom Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin. It tells the tale of Michael O'Sullivan, a family man who works for mafia-involved Mr. Looney. Michael is known as the archangel of death to people near and far or "the angel" for short. When one of Michael's two sons, Michael O'Sullivan Jr. witnesses his father and Looney's son Connor kill a group of men, Connor tells his father, Mr. Looney who gives a sealed envelope containing Michael's death-sentence to be delivered to his would-be murderer in exchange for forgiveness of all debts.  Looney had allegedly only ordered the death of Michael that night but Connor, on his own initiative visits the O'Sullivan home in the night killing all who were home which were his wife and youngest son. Luckily Michael O'Sullivan Jr. wasn't home yet but he unfortunately walked in to find his mother and brother dead. This is just the beginning.

The rest of the graphic novel tells the tale of father and son on the road, running from Looney's men. Finding that Al Capone's allegiance still remains with Looney, Michael is forced to avenge the death of his family on his own with Michael O'Sullivan Jr. alongside. Michael Sr. is a noble man but his son puts it best when he says his father was no saint but he also wasn't a butcher.

Tyler Hoechlin as
Michael O'Sullivan Jr.

One of the most precious parts of the film to me was the fact that the son never had to murder. He held a gun several times and nearly killed Jude Law's character, Harlen (an assassin hired by Nitti, Capone's man, at the approval of Looney) before his father stepped in and saved his son the lifetime burden. In the graphic novel however, Michael Jr. saves his father's life by killing a man intending to do the same to Michael Sr.

Another major difference between the film and graphic novel would be the fact that Jude Law's character, Harlen, doesn't even exist in the graphic novel. I loved his character in the film and how he tracked the O'Sullivans throughout the story but sorely missed his presence and demeanor in the book.

Jude Law as Harlen, the assassin
from the film Road to Perdition

The adaptation from book to film was, aside from previously mentioned major differences, very impressive. I hadn't realized how graphic novels were similar to films until I found myself engrossed in the "rat tat tats," "bam bam blams," and the fast, thrilling story line of outstanding art and character. When reading a traditional novel, detail is the jewel - graphic novels, however, play to the imagination, the reader's interpretation of art stills and a dynamic story line.

This was my first graphic novel experience. Having previously thought graphic novels and comics were for men and women enthralled with the pleasures of their youths, I must admit how sorely mistaken I was. Graphic novels span all ages, imaginations and interests. I'm glad I took a ride on The Road to Perdition and I hope you will too.

film images property of Dreamworks and Twentieth Century Fox