This is a beautiful, sprawling graphic novel that spans a weekend in the lives of a highly dysfunctional family on the cusp of divorce. Now, I'm not sure if graphic novels are allowed in this site, but allow me to make my case:
1) It was in the Notable Fiction section of Barnes & Noble.
2) It's 720 pages long.
3) It certainly feels like a novel, reads like a novel, and hits you emotionally like a novel.
Is that enough? If everyone is in uproar, then we can count this as a 1/2 book. Okay? Okay.
Bottomless Belly Button is wonderful. It's about the Loony Family. The matriarch and patriarch of the family, an elderly couple with forty years of marriage under their belts, have suddenly decided to get a divorce, and their children and grandchildren have no idea why. What follows are the sad misadventures of a family on the brink of unwanted change. Secret passageways containing secret letters, burning semen with candles, a chair falling from the sky. It's surreal and so identifiably close to real life, page after page after page.
There's even a little animated trailer. You should watch it:
http://www.fantagraphics.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1199ltemid=137
For anyone who likes cartoons, Wes Anderson, puzzles, and mildly heart-wrenching stories, this may be for you.
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