Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Longtime favorite author weighs in on the stranger aspects of love
If, like me, you have yet to select a romance title to devour for Valentine’s Day’s sake, or you’re just not the average romance reader, boy, do I have a selection for you!
I hung on to “Bizarre Romance” for a few months before I consumed it because it’s the latest release from my all-time favorite author, Audrey Niffenegger, and I knew I’d feast fast. I did, in only two days, even though I was trying my best to take my time. Oops!
Even if it wasn’t created by an author I already trusted, the cover design of the book made by Sara Corbett would draw me in with its anthropomorphic characters. Their mix of animal heads and human qualities resemble the wedding cake topper my husband and I selected when we couldn’t find one that had a couple that resembled us — a white, blonde woman and a (handsome) Asian American man.
Niffenegger got married not many years ago to comics artist Eddie Campbell, and this book is a series of their collaborations: part graphic novel with essays in between. Niffenegger wrote the stories, and Campbell created the graphics. Each one focuses on romance of some kind, but always with a fantastical or odd element that I adore.
I appreciated that it wasn’t just the traditional boy-meets-girl meet cutes, but love in all its forms. There’s the overpoweringly protective love of a parent who didn’t expect to be one, the affection between an old lady and her cats, the connection between siblings across portals of time and space, the devotion of artists to their work and the selfless sacrifice by an adult daughter.
The comic about the newlyweds who are trying to sort out their alone time gave me a good laugh. Reviews of this book amused me too as some railed that Niffenegger’s contributions brought down the quality of
Campbell’s work, while others clearly thought the opposite.
While I personally think she is the better artist, that’s really beside the point of a book like this. There’s an inherently loveliness about creating something with the person you love and the originality it brings when you share ownership in a contribution to the world.
Like many people, I discovered Audrey Niffenegger in 2009 when a feature film starring Rachel McAdams was released based on Niffenegger’s hit novel “A Time Traveler’s Wife.”
I saw the movie with my high school boyfriend when we were giving our relationship a second chance one summer in college. It wasn’t going well. But it was what led me to discover the author that has ultimately become my favorite.
After we watched the movie, whose screenplay was written by someone else and which the author herself described as “sickly sweet” in an interview I saw online, I went in search of the book. Unsurprisingly, the book was most certainly better by many yards. So the search continued. At the time, the only other book I could find of hers was “Her Fearful Symmetry,” and to my sheer delight, I found it even more intriguing than “The Time Traveler’s Wife.”
If I had to give each book on my shelf an award or designation, “Her Fearful Symmetry” would have “The Most Reread” book award. At this stage of my life, it’s also the one I own the most copies of. There is the beloved paperback copy I found originally that has dog-eared corners and is worn around all the edges. There’s the special first edition that my dear nephew and his wife gifted to us at our wedding, and then there is the copy with a specially crafted cover and case by the author, who is also an artist.
Looking back, it’s funny how her stories have become woven into my own love story.
Nine years ago, my then-boyfriend and I set out to take the long drive back to my hometown, where he was going to meet my parents for the first time. It had been years since I had introduced any guys to my family, but I wasn’t nervous in the least. Sam was who I was meant to be with, and nothing was going to change that.
We traveled for hours and after crossing the rickety old one-lane bridge, we arrived and settled in for his first taste of a Robertson Christmas. When it came time to open my gifts from him, I was completely blown away to find that it was a copy of “The Art of Audrey Niffenegger,” which held images of many of her weird and wonderful works.
The novelist I fell in love with was also an extraordinary artist, and soon I would collect her other visually oriented works, including “The Three Incestuous Sisters,” “The Adventuress,” “Raven Girl” and “The Night Bookmobile.” Each would fascinate me in its own special way.
Sam’s gift showed me that he truly saw me for who I am, someone who appreciates art and literature out of the ordinary, and nothing is more romantic than that.