BOOKS 2 SCREEN PICK
The Lie and How we Told it by Tommi Parrish
Agent: Tommi Parrish
Status:
Summary: After a chance encounter, two formerly close friends try to salvage whatever is left of their decaying relationship. They are in for an awkward, painful night that leaves them feeling lonelier, more uncertain, and more estranged than ever before. Parrish’s first graphic novel for Fantagraphics is a visual tour de force, always in the service of the author’s ever-prevalent themes: navigating queer desire, masculinity, fear, and the ever-in-flux state of friendships.
Parrish makes emotionally loaded painted comics about everyday relationships, doubts, and anxieties. The psychological acuity in the work pairs perfectly to the graphic style. The Lie and How We Told It is a remarkably resonant work from an exciting new voice in contemporary graphic novels.
Notes: The story takes place over a single night as two friends, a young man and woman, once friends in high school. After bumping into each other at a grocery store, the two decide to go out for a drink to catch up. The conversation between the two makes up the play, as the reveal how much they’ve changed and stayed the same. What occurs is a drawn-out, awkward booze-filled night with an impending sense of disappointment.
Interspersed in the pages is a story within a story about non-gender conforming person performing drag in a strip club and them dating a rugged truck driver client. The story comes from a novel that one of the characters finds in a bush. They reflect on the fact that through them dating they start to conform to stereotypical gender roles.
An painfully honest story about fading friendships, new ones, and the lies we tell ourselves about our sexuality, our past, and our own self.
The Book to Screen Club 