You might know Lynda Barry from her NPR commentaries, from her comic strip Ernie Pook's Comeek, or her novella -- what she called a "novelini" - The Good Times Are Killing Me. Barry has just finished her first novel. Cruddy is an illustrated novel, Barry says based in form on illustrated novels from the turn of the century, with paintings instead of the quirky line drawings of her comic books. Cruddy is definitely an adult book, and is at the same time charming and disturbing. You're charmed by the heroine's spirit given her cruddy life, but then disturbed when you find out "cruddy" doesn't begin to describe it.