The Year of Loving Dangerously

 

Ted Rall (writer) Pablo Callejo (art)

It's New York City in the 1980s and Ted Rall is in college. Everything is fine before his pranks, lack of focus and restlessness get him expelled. Unable to find a job and rejected by his parents, he considers suicide. By happenstance he finds comfort in the arms of many women as he bed-hops around the five boroughs. It's better than homelessness, but the psychic toll of selling himself and his affection was higher than he imagined. Both acidly funny and brutally honest, Rall, a cartoonist both beloved and reviled for his edgy politics, pours out his guts in this remembrance of this most difficult chapter in his life.

Revised paperback edition.

REVIEWS:

"Rall scripted but wisely left the illustrations to Callejo, who did a great job.”
-Richard Pachter, Miami Herald

"Many of the book's most memorable passages consider the ambiguous
intersections between sexual desire and economic destitution, albeit
with Rall's characteristic blunt wit."
-New York Press

"A solid read, recommended for the underdog in us all."
-Boston Weekly Dig

“He was more interested in well-stocked refrigerators than impending sexual adventures. Realistically illustrated in soft colors by Callejo, of Bluesman (2004–06) fame, and maximally unbuttoned in some places, Rall’s sympathetic account of his life on the edge encourages identifying with a situation so desperate that his outrageous choices seem necessary.”
-Booklist

"Rall is obviously an excellent writer. And the book is very funny at times, so don’t let the serious premise scare you away. I enjoyed this graphic novel immensely and have been encouraged to check out more of Rall’s books. Read this book with an open mind and eye for detail and I think you will enjoy it just as much. 9 out of 10.”
-Sequential Tart

"A gorgeous whirlwind of a memoir."
-Sasha Watson, Publishers Weekly

“Much of the strength in this remarkable account comes from Pablo G Callejo’s artwork. His artwork is ideally suited for this cautionary tale and made reading it a lot easier. This is an important work in that it lays bare a man’s life and shows how easily things can go awry and why society needs safety nets.”
-ComicMix

"If you’re a fan of comic memoirs, yet maybe a little sick of socially inept, nebbish autobio, Rall provides an effective antidote.“
-Newsarama

"A strong addition to the growing field of graphic memoirs.”
-Blogcritics

“This is a very honest, very open story, that does not ask for your pity but instead just tells things like they were. I loved the 80’s references."
-Paperback Reader

"Inspirational, intensely erotic and at times heart-wrenching, this is truly a memoir which cannot be passed up.”
-Comics Waiting Room

See Rall's interview on Smith Magazine

WHAT ALLISON BECHDEL SAYS OF IT:
"Ted Rall is fearless. In The Year of Loving Dangerously, he turns his formidable journalistic skills on a very rich subject--himself. The memoir is not just a revealing and entertaining account of Rall's
misspent youth, but a gritty, alternative take on Manhattan in the boom years of the eighties."

 

Paperback: 8 ½ x 11", 128pp, full-color trade paperback., $15.99
ISBN 9781681122151

Hardcover: 6x9, 128pp., full-color, clothbound: $18.95
ISBN 978-1-56163-565-8

Edition