Title: Carnet de Voyage Volume(s): 1 Authoer(s): Craig Thompson Format: Unflipped; Left-to-Right Publisher: Top Shelf MSRP: $14.95 Genre(s): Drama Rated: Teen (13+)

After writing a book like "Blankets" how do you top yourself? Well, I guess we'll find out when Craig Thompson finishes writing his next book. In the mean time we have "Carnet de Voyage" to hold us over until Craig's next book is finished. Don't walk into "Carnet de Voyage" expecting it to be as good as "Blankets" is because it isn't...in fact, "Carnet de Voyage" isn't even really a real book. So what is "Carnet de Voyage" then? Well, it's a diary. You heard me: A diary. As explained on the first page of this book, Craig tells us that he went on a little trip to visit several different countries to do research for his next book and doing some book signing’s. He didn't bring a camera or a laptop though, so he kept track of everything he saw by drawing it in his diary. When he gets back his publisher says "Hey, we may be able to make money off these sketches!" And before you know it, we now have "Carnet de Voyage" to read. Seeing as how "Carnet de Voyage" is more of a record log then an actual story, you can't really expect much in the way of a flowing narrative, and instead have to take the drawings and stories for what they are: One man's view on life.

Oh don't get me wrong, there are a few reoccurring things that do connect some of the drawings together. Craig constantly misses his ex-girlfriend (we never find out why the two broke up), he has lengthy discussions about religion (he seems to believe that all religions worship the same God, and if you don't believe that you are an idiot), and mid-way through the book you get a STRONG feeling that Craig really doesn't want to be on the book tour anymore, and would hop on a plane home if he could! Aside from these minor things that pop up every now and then, the book is filled with random sketches, thoughts, and even a story that comes straight out of left field, where some rabbit thing talks about the problem he's having with diarrhoea (real attractive Craig)! Sometimes there are pages upon pages of this book where the thoughts are interesting to read and fun, and there are other stretches where the book just drags and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. Okay, so the book was never supposed to go anywhere in the first place, but this sort of situation does bring the enjoyment of the book down quite a bit sometimes. I must make note that for a book that was supposingly nothing more then a simple note book, the artwork here is actually very good, with no rough sketches or rough lines that you normal see in an artists sketch book.

Something tells me the art was cleaned up before publishing to look as sharp as it could be for this release, as any artist will tell you that sketch books that are used for making random sketches NEVER look this good! This is not a con of the book though, just an observation, and while I would have liked to have seen the book the way Craig drew everything (rough lines and all), I do understand that this book is now being sold in bookstores, and a book filled with rough art would most likely hurt sales of the book for people who may be potentially interested in buying the book. To be honest there really isn't much more to say about "Carnet de Voyage." The book is nothing more then a bunch of random sketches and thoughts, and you'll either find that interesting or you won't. I found myself half interested and half bored, but the book certainly wasn't the waste of money some people have claimed this book to be. "Carnet de Voyage" may not be the follow up to "Blankets" we were hoping for, but it's an interesting little experiment in it's own right, and it DOES give you a good idea of how cartoonists work when they are doing research! By now you've most likely made up your mind on whether or not this book is something you want to invest in, so I'll spare you my "who would like this book" speech I give at the end and just let you guys either buy the book or not. This book won't appeal to everyone...but on the other hand few things do.

- -Review By Kevin T. Rodriguez- -