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I Was a Child
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
7 posts | 4 read | 2 to read
I Was a Child is an illustrated memoir by Bruce Eric Kaplan, the renowned New Yorker cartoonist. Bruce Eric Kaplan, also known as BEK, is one of the most celebrated and admired cartoonists in America. I Was a Child is the story of his childhood in suburban New Jersey, detailing the small moments we all experience: going to school, playing with friends, family dinners, watching TV on a hot summer night, and so on. It would seem like a conventional childhood, although Kaplan's anecdotes are accompanied by his signature drawings of family outings and life at home-road trips, milk crates, hamsters, ashtrays, a toupee, a platypus, and much more. Kaplan's cartoons, although simple, are never straightforward; they encompass an easy irony and dark humor that often cuts straight to the truth of experience. Brilliantly relatable and genuinely moving, I Was a Child is about our attempts to understand the mysteries that are our parents, our families, and ourselves.From the Hardcover edition.
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megnews
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Pickpick

I wasn‘t sure I liked this graphic memoir enough at the beginning but it grew on me and there were quite a few laugh out loud moments.

Book 318 12/22/19

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megnews
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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I felt sure based on similar experiences that the author was a few years older than me. Googled him and I was right. He makes me laugh out loud at certain universal experiences of childhood at that time. This one, for instance, unless the phone was hanging on the wall, is absolutely true. My grandparents died in 2009/2010 and still had a table for nothing but the phone.

ljuliel I remember having a phone with the cloth covered cord. A lot of the houses I grew up in had a built in little phone shelf sorta thing that had the phone jack plug in behind it. 4y
PatriciaU Oh, yes. The telephone table was akin to a shrine in my grandmother‘s house! 4y
tournevis In the 1910s and 1920s, there were actual little tables, often square-ish, with a nook or drawer, just to hold the telephone. The smaller ones for candlestick telephones, wider for headsets. If you look at my last post, you can see one such table I use as a console 4y
29 likes3 comments
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megnews
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Waiting on my oil change & tire rotation. What an exciting start to my two week vacation!
Not sure how I feel about this book yet but this is so true.

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Megabooks
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Mehso-so

Eh. I thought I was getting a graphic novel rather than a simplistic memoir with crappy pictures. He had a normal, undramatic, average-funny childhood. Overall just okay. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Pic: His rendering of those old Palmolive ads. Loved those!

90 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Megabooks
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Halfway! #24in48 @24in48

I have mixed feelings about this graphic memoir. Teaser for my review. 😉😬

BookFreakOut Halfway, woo hoo! Keep it up! 6y
ReadingSusan 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
mrozzz You can do it 😄👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
See All 6 Comments
robinb 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉👏👏👏👏👏👍👍 6y
Eggs 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 6y
Andrew65 👏👏👏👏👏 6y
110 likes2 stack adds6 comments
review
whitney_archer
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Pickpick

I read this book in under an hour, but really liked it. It's a childhood memoir told in short bits, drawings, and sentences that aren't necessarily connected. And it worked. It reminded me of my own childhood where bits of memory flit and flow. Recommend.

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bermudaonion
I Was a Child: A Memoir | Bruce Eric Kaplan
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Pickpick

I enjoyed this graphic memoir but think it is geared to a "vintage" audience like me.