That transition into adulthood and finding your way can be a tricky one, and full of random shenanigans. I feel like that’s a common topic for a lot of stories today about finding success and where you want to go in your adult life: I am definitely sitting right in that stage, just trying to figure stuff out and not really sure the best way to go about it.
In The Blunder Years, a lot of those fears of failure and feeling lost and adrift come to life through little essays about various moments in Adam Ellis’ life, as he tries to make his way after graduating from art school. Stages of learning and progression are presented in the form of funny stories that are punctuated with humorous comics to illustrate the wackiness of some of the situations he found himself in. The drawings involved in this are cute and comedic, and Ellis definitely has a distinct style about how he portrays people. And if you haven’t checked out his other web comics, I would definitely suggest taking a look, as they can be quite funny. (He is now over at Buzzfeed, apparently).
Topics that are hit on within this book include leaving town for something new, first apartments, finding friends, relationships, finding work, and general advice and lessons learned on the way. Some of the tales recounted are quite funny, and Ellis’ mannerisms and character throughout them really reminded me of myself at times. I will, however, say that overall I wasn’t really sure where this book was going or if there was a clear focus as to an ultimate conclusion. But maybe that’s the point of the whole thing, given the stage of life it represents: sometimes there isn’t a destiny to achieve or an overarching plan, but we are just blundering through things and figuring it all out as we go along. I know I certainly am. A human meatball disaster.
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