Orgy Bound

Orgy Bound is a collection of stories from Clowes's Eightball comic, and it's a revoltingly funny book. It begins with a short piece about a boy with a romantic attachment to insects. Still, Clowes isn't just looking for cheap laughs; the stories are funny, but they have a bleakness that emphasizes the emptiness of the characters' lives. There is little room for beauty in Clowes's world. In one of the most revealing strips, three stereotypical members of Generation X sit in an apartment and casually deconstruct their whole lifestyle. There are harsh truths hidden within the many jokes, and Clowes makes sure we know it.