One Dirty Tree by Noah Van Sciver Review

One Dirty Tree is a short memoir that jumps between two different times in Noah Van Sciver’s life: 1994, aged 10, and living with his family (his mom, himself and his 7 siblings are pictured on the cover – Mormons, eh?), and 2014, aged 30, as he completes the first Fante Bukowski book and disentangles himself from a doomed relationship. 

I really liked this one. I tend to enjoy most of Noah Van Sciver’s comics anyway but it was especially interesting to read this rare and revealing venture into nonfiction. The childhood memoir stuff is fairly de rigueur and a bit dull, particularly the parts recounting Mormons’ beliefs which I was already familiar with thanks to South Park. 

It makes sense though to include these sections as it plays into his adult frustrations with his then-girlfriend’s (mis)perceptions of what Mormon family life is actually like, which, going by what we see here, was actually really normal. And it explains why Van Sciver’s dad is missing from the cover, who’s definitely the most interesting character from this period. 

The 2014 stuff was much more compelling. As good a cartoonist as he is, you can see how difficult it is making a living drawing indie comics. He works at Panera Bread during the week, works Sundays at a friend’s bookshop, fits in cartooning amidst everything, and remains perennially broke! 

You also see his acute awareness of how other people view cartoonists and how it makes him feel, boiling over in a final break-up argument with his girlfriend where he defends his choices. Good for you, Noah! is how I felt – he might not become rich or famous making indie comics but at least he’s pursuing his dreams, his interests and creating great art in the process, which is more than most people can say. 

If you like Van Sciver’s slice-of-life comics, or the sub-genre itself, you’ll enjoy One Dirty Tree (the nickname for the house the family were living in at the time); otherwise I can’t see it appealing to many readers beyond. Poor old Noah’s gonna be at that Panera Bread a while longer…!