Main Character Syndrome: Diary Entries 1971-2001 First friends, First kiss, First love, First death, First memories from the last century
Sale price
$28.99
Regular price $34.99
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Main Character Syndrome: Diary Entries 1971-2001 First friends, First kiss, First love, First death, First memories from the last century
Sale price
$28.99
Regular price $34.99
You've seen the questions and memes on Reddit and Facebook, "Did kids in the 70’s really just go out and 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 – 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, that’s 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 Dean’s energetic, frenetic, insistent ink drawings. Described in the Detroit Free Press as “a scribbler”, 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 happens” immediacy. There’s pathos and poignancy but also honesty and self-deprecating humor. Dean shows us his 70’s mullet and his growing bald spot in between drawings of him trying to look cool.
Praise for Main Character Syndrome from the author’s friends - (who are writers but still friends)
“I was afraid when he gave the manuscript to me that I wouldn’t like it and I’d have to tell him, but I loved it. He’s got a really authentic voice that draws you in.” – Lydia Kulbida, Emmy winning Anchor, writer, producer, WTEN News
“The perfect Gen X book. There's just an incredible sense of wonder throughout the whole thing that pulls the reader along, sentence after sentence.” – Stephanie Vanderslice, author of The Lost Son
“It reminded me of The Wonder Years. I loved the artwork and how it feels like a diary.” – John Gray, author of Manchester Christmas, Chasing Manhattan and Chasing Rome
Artist and author Dean Giagni has exhibited in Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City. Raised in upstate NY where his interest in the arts was encouraged by his family with giant stacks of construction paper, access to the family’s 8mm movie camera and private art instruction. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Painting. Dean was a partner in Subculture Galleries of Philadelphia and NYC and served as Operations Director for CPOP Gallery in Detroit. Dean wrote, produced and directed the short film, The Situationist premiering at the DC International Film Festival, then taking his new skills at video storytelling to the world of television news serving as a news photographer and Chief Photographer for WTEN. Dean’s art, writing and achievements have been published in the Philadelphia New Arts Journal, The Troy Record, Metroland, The Experience, Orbit, Hour Detroit, Outlaw Tattoo and Juxtapoz Magazine.
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, that’s 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 Dean’s energetic, frenetic, insistent ink drawings. Described in the Detroit Free Press as “a scribbler”, 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 happens” immediacy. There’s pathos and poignancy but also honesty and self-deprecating humor. Dean shows us his 70’s mullet and his growing bald spot in between drawings of him trying to look cool.
Praise for Main Character Syndrome from the author’s friends - (who are writers but still friends)
“I was afraid when he gave the manuscript to me that I wouldn’t like it and I’d have to tell him, but I loved it. He’s got a really authentic voice that draws you in.” – Lydia Kulbida, Emmy winning Anchor, writer, producer, WTEN News
“The perfect Gen X book. There's just an incredible sense of wonder throughout the whole thing that pulls the reader along, sentence after sentence.” – Stephanie Vanderslice, author of The Lost Son
“It reminded me of The Wonder Years. I loved the artwork and how it feels like a diary.” – John Gray, author of Manchester Christmas, Chasing Manhattan and Chasing Rome
Artist and author Dean Giagni has exhibited in Philadelphia, Detroit and New York City. Raised in upstate NY where his interest in the arts was encouraged by his family with giant stacks of construction paper, access to the family’s 8mm movie camera and private art instruction. He attended Pratt Institute in Brooklyn with a major in Graphic Design and a minor in Painting. Dean was a partner in Subculture Galleries of Philadelphia and NYC and served as Operations Director for CPOP Gallery in Detroit. Dean wrote, produced and directed the short film, The Situationist premiering at the DC International Film Festival, then taking his new skills at video storytelling to the world of television news serving as a news photographer and Chief Photographer for WTEN. Dean’s art, writing and achievements have been published in the Philadelphia New Arts Journal, The Troy Record, Metroland, The Experience, Orbit, Hour Detroit, Outlaw Tattoo and Juxtapoz Magazine.