The book jacket of David Small’s graphic memoir Stitches calls the book “a silent movie masquerading as a book.” That’s a brilliant description of a brilliant book, where Small uses his artwork to tell his story, but the two are really serving the same function. The artwork uses traditional literary tropes—metaphor, motifs like dreams, and other structural devices that make the story itself resonate like literary fiction.
It is a dark coming of age story, exacerbated by his family’s secrets and the looming guilt that a six year old can’t put his finger on but feels. The pictures show this unsettledness, especially in the depiction of the mother’s noises in the kitchen. By the end of the story, David’s difficult life comes into focus as his father and his mother have their secret guilt laid bare.
David is diagnosed with cancer at an early age, but his parents don’t tell him about. Two surgeries remove one of his vocal chords robbing him of his voice. This seems to make his parents only resent him more. Part of this seems to be due to finances, but Small shows his father lavishing gifts on the bitter mother. It’s hard to read because we know what the child doesn’t—that so much of what is happening isn’t his fault but we see the way it slowly destroys him anyway. It is also safe to say that what the father and mother each wrestle with remains a mystery through most of the book; Small unveils it as it was unveiled to him.
The most disturbing part has to do with his grandmother in Indiana, who David realizes is crazy but his mother defends. Her story lurks in the background and sets up part of the confusion David has sort through to get his life in order.
The closing dream sequence is moving—another perfect blend of pacing words, silence, and images.
Small includes a few actual photos as an afterward with updates on his parents.
Throughout the book he evokes the world of Detroit and the world as seen and heard and imagined by a kid. His transformation into an artist is covered quickly—time passes quickly as the book closes. But it works—Small details the problems of his growing up and the point at which things began to turn for him.
What we’re left with is a stark, spellbinding, unsparing look at someone who overcame great personal and psychological challenges. Small was recognized as a finalist for the National Book Award in Young People’s Literature and his site has some cool video montages from the book. Here is the trailer that includes Small narrating:
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