Silly Daddy

Surrealism, before it was associated with melting clocks and absurdist imagery, was an attempt to explore the subconscious in art. In Silly Daddy: The Long Goodbye Joe Chiappetta combines this exploration of the subconscious with the primitive sensibilities of an outsider artist. At times the black-and-white artwork looks like the drawings of a child. Throughout the book the art develops, though, and is slightly refined; by the end it appears more comfortable, especially when juxtaposed with the drawings of Chiappetta's 3-year-old daughter. The Long Goodbye is an autobiographical collection of important (if sometimes banal) accounts of young, inexperienced parenthood, the disintegration of Chiappetta's marriage, and his ever-deepening love and appreciation for his daughter. This comic book is spiritual in the most unpretentious way: truisms are never preached or presented as such, but through his stories, through the thoughts he shares with the reader, Chiappetta creates a sense of pathos, hope, and bittersweet love.