Review of
I,
Parrot, by Deb Olin Lanferth & Elizabeth Haidle ISBN
9781936787654
Three out of five stars
This is not one
of the most riveting graphic novels every written or illustrated. The main
character is a woman named Daphne that has a son and an ex-husband. She has not
been able to remain employed at a solid job, she currently records short
inspirational audio messages. Daphne has a boyfriend that suffers the same
affliction of being unable to hold a quality job. As a consequence of her
difficulties, her son is now spending almost all of his time with his father.
Desperate for cash,
Daphne accepts a job house sitting for her boss and taking quality care of her
flock of high-quality birds. The owner tells her that together they are worth
over $100,000, so there is pressure on Daphne to maintain their health. This
proves challenging, so Daphne requests the assistance of her boyfriend in
tending to the birds.
Things go wrong
with the birds and between them and her son comes to stay with her for a short
time at her boss’s house. In general, the book becomes a story of a woman that
can’t seem to get her life together and there is always something going wrong.
She laments how her husband now has their son for the majority of the time, but
if the reader follows the story with an open mind, it is a logical consequence of
their comparative economic and social positions. Daphne is also critical of her
ex-husband and his new wife.
I found the
material about the parrots interesting, but the interactions of the humans at
times very boring. Daphne’s arguments with her boyfriend are often childish and
unproductive when so much is at stake. Overall, this is a minimally good book.
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