I picked up "The Alcoholic" because I saw it was drawn by Dean Haspiel, who is one of my favorite artists -- he does the best "American Splendor" stories among others -- and one of my favorite writers too; his recurring character Billy Dogma -- "the last romantic antihero" -- is a role model of mine.Sadly, Haspiel did not write this. Jonathan Ames did and while I applaud Ames for pulling no punches in this thinly-veiled autobiographical novel and his willingness to bring to light his sins and failings (not just bringing them to light but revelling in them), I have to say that before the book was over I was tired of him whining about losing a friend and having his heartbroken like these were things that happened only to him and not to everyone who lives to the age of 12.
On the plus side, Haspiel's art was gorgeous and kept me reading after I had lost sympathy with the protagonist.
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