Backderf tells us the story of
Jeffrey Dahmer’s high school years as seen through the eyes of him and his
friends in this graphic novel. Backderf attended high school with Dahmer and
while he was not good friends with him, he socialized with him from time to
time. He draws from these personal experiences as well as other sources to
portray what Jeff was like as a teenager. Largely it seems that Jeff was
troubled long before his serial killing of young men began. He spent most of
his days drinking to help stifle his urges to kill and as a way to cope with
the turmoil of his mother and father’s divorce. He also had an extreme
fascination in dismembering dead animals he found in the woods surrounding his
home.
This fascination of course leads to far worse acts. While we get glimpses
of the troubled person Jeff was, we also see that although he was no social
butterfly in school, kids did take interest in him. They especially liked it
when he would approach strangers and suddenly contort his face and offer a
barrage of strange noises. They found this funny and they tried to engage Jeff,
but his drinking took priority.
Sometimes
the art work seems extremely comical, and other times it takes on a serious
tone. It was neat that Backderf could create pictures that showed us the fun
side of his own high school experience alongside the darkness surrounding
Jeffrey’s. An underlying theme Backderf seems to relate to readers is that it
may have been possible for Dahmer’s life to have gone in a more positive
direction if the adults surrounding him in his teen years had stepped up and
took notice to his absences from school, and his drinking. Regardless of
whether Jeff could have been helped or not, we all know what eventually became
of him. A quick and informative read it is!
If you'd like to read this book, you can call the Information Desk at (856) 794-4244 ext. 4243 to put it on hold.
General George S. Patton, Jr. died under mysterious circumstances in the
months following the end of World War II. For almost seventy years,
there has been suspicion that his death was not an accident—and may very
well have been an act of assassination. Killing Patton takes
readers inside the final year of the war and recounts the events
surrounding Patton’s tragic demise, naming names of the many powerful
individuals who wanted him silenced.
