Wilson

Wilson is a collection of single-page comic strips detailing the mid-life stagnation of an abrasive, middle-aged misanthrope living in Oakland. The protagonist seeks forced intimacy with strangers and estranged family members through blunt, often insulting dialogue. After the death of his father, Wilson tracks down his ex-wife, a recovering drug addict, and discovers he has a teenage daughter who was given up for adoption. He attempts to manufacture an artificial family unit, an effort that eventually leads to his incarceration and further isolation.

Readers who appreciate dry, cynical humor and character studies of socially maladjusted individuals will find this narrative useful. It appeals to those interested in the disconnect between human desire for belonging and the inability to maintain social decorum. The book employs shifting artistic styles, from cartoony to realistic, to mirror the protagonist's erratic emotional states. A reader finishes the work with a clinical perspective on narcissism and the cyclical nature of loneliness in modern American life.