 Seth presents the fictional book as a work of autobiography and features figures from his life such as his friend and fellow cartoonist Chester Brown . The minimalist artwork draws from the styles of the early New Yorker cartoonists , rendered in thick brushstrokes with heavy blacks against a greyish @-@ blue wash . The story unfolds with a nostalgic and melancholic tone , and several wordless scenes take the reader on a tour of Southern Ontarian <unk> and landscapes . The book gained Seth a reputation as part of an autobiographical comics trend in the 1990s . It won two Ignatz Awards in 1997 and ranked No. 52 of The Comics Journal 's " 100 Best Comics of the 20th Century " . 
