get PDF Download Main Character Syndrome: Diary Entries 1971-2001 First friends, First kiss, First l

You've seen the questions and memes on Reddit and Facebook, Did kids in the 708217s really just go out and go play the in the woods and your parents had no idea where you were? Did you really sneak out of an open window to go to a giant, raging house party with beer in plastic red cups like in those 80's movies? Author and artist Dean Giagni lived through it and, more importantly 8211 remembered it and how it felt. In his first book, Main Character Syndrome, he creates an illustrated historical diary of those times, looking back into his own life. This is all the joy of a new love, a first kiss, having a bonfire with your friends but also the sobering reality of being bullied in school, breaking up and the death of friends and family.Even though the book highlights in detail the specific weirdness and idiosyncrasies of living in the 70's, 80's and 90's the music, the social scene and culture, that8217s just the frame for the emotions and feelings of the stories. The reader might not have shared the author's specific experiences but we all have shared emotions. Emotions are like places we visit over and over in our lives, but we visit there alone, by ourselves, in our own heads. Main Character Syndrome is about those emotional places, the emotional journeys that we all have in common. These are the secret feelings we all had growing up, navigating the world of adolescent friendships, crushes. As young adults discovering desires, excesses, disappointments and excitement.Each story and page is illuminated by Dean8217s energetic, frenetic, insistent ink drawings. Described in the Detroit Free Press as a scribbler8221, his expressive brushstrokes, jagged lines, washes and spatters retain a sense of spontaneity while delivering the detail and subtly of memories carefully observed. The energy of a Friday night restaurant rush, the thrill of driving with the top down in the snow, the face of anguish and tears of loss are captured from the past and rendered with an as it happens8221 immediacy. There8217s pathos and poignancy but also honesty and self-deprecating humor. Dean shows us his 708217s mullet and his growing bald spot in between drawings of him trying to look cool.Praise for Main Character Syndrome from the author8217s friends - (who are writers but still friends)I was afraid when he gave the manuscript to me that I wouldn8217t like it and I8217d have to tell him, but I loved it. He8217s got a really authentic voice that draws you in.8221 8211 Lydia Kulbida, Emmy winning Anchor, writer, producer, WTEN NewsThe perfect Gen X book. There's just an incredible sense of wonder throughout the whole thing that pulls the reader along, sentence after sentence.8221 8211 Stephanie Vanderslice, author of The Lost SonIt reminded me of The Wonder Years. I loved the artwork and how it feels like a diary.8221 8211 John Gray, author of Manchester Christmas, Chasing Manhattan and Chasing RomeArtist and author Dean Giagni has exhibited in Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City. Raised in upstate NY where his interest in the arts