The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures
| Author | Phoebe Gloeckner |
|---|---|
| Genre | Graphic novel |
| Published | 2002 |
The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures is a diaristic graphic novel by author and artist Phoebe Gloeckner. It is notable for its hybrid form, composed of both prose and "comics" passages, each contributing to the narrative.
First published in 2002, the book has been called "autobiography" or "semi-autobiography."
The story is told by its protagonist Minnie Goetze, a 15-year-old girl living in San Francisco, CA. The year is 1976, and Minnie, the daughter of a young single mother, loses her virginity to her mother's boyfriend, Monroe Rutherford, and soon thereafter begins writing obsessively in her diary. As she careens towards coming-of-age, she searches for love but confuses it with sex. The book presents a complex and jarring look into the interior life of an adolescent girl, and has been described as raw and disturbing, not only because of its subject matter, but because of Minnie's frank and precociously intelligent point of view and commentary on the lives of the adults in her midst.
Minnie Goetz is a 15-year-old girl living in San Francisco with her mother Charlotte, who was a teenager when Minnie was born, and her younger sister Gretel. Minnie begins keeping a diary after her mother's on-again, off-again boyfriend Munroe begins to make sexual advances towards her. Munroe takes her out drinking to a bar one day and initiates sex between them.
Minnie has mixed feelings about her relationship with Munroe, feeling attracted to him sexually but resenting the way he treats her and the secretive nature of their relationship. She longs to confide in her mother about Munroe but feels she cannot as Munroe and her mother still sleep together and she has a cold relationship with her mother as she once heard her step-father Pascal refer to her need to be held and touched by her mother as "sexual".
Minnie begins to sleep with more boys her own age but is disappointed and disillusioned to find that they make fun of her with their friends. She begins to spend more time with her friend Kimmie, who prostitutes herself to various friends and neighbours for petty cash. Through Kimmie, Minnie begins to take drugs for the first time.
Munroe begins a mail order business for diet pills. His goal is to be rich and retire by the time he is 40 which Minnie disapproves of as a goal. After listening to his motivational tapes she decides she wants to be a cartoonist. She writes a fan letter to Aline Kominsky-Crumb who writes one back to her. Minnie also begins skipping more classes and is thrown out of school for her poor attendance. She is forced to attend a public school and is only accepted on a trial basis on the strength of her artistic talents.
Minnie confesses to Munroe that she loves him and he does not reciprocate, causing her to feel angry towards him. Whenever she tries to initiate sex he has her perform oral sex on him which Minnie finds unsatisfying. Minnie's step-father Pascal tells Minnie's mother that he believes that Munroe has sexual intentions towards Minnie. Munroe convinces Minnie's mother, Charlotte, that the beliefs are unfounded. Pascal then tells Minnie he is leaving for New York, but promises to always stay in touch telling Minnie he thinks of her and Gretel as his children.
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