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Matt Madden
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99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style Paperback – October 25, 2005

by Matt Madden (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 172 ratings
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99 Ways to Tell a Story is a series of engrossing one-page comics that tell the same story ninety-nine different ways. Inspired by Raymond Queneau’s 1947 Exercises in Style, a mainstay of creative writing courses, Madden’s project demonstrates the expansive range of possibilities available to all storytellers. Readers are taken on an enlightening tour—sometimes amusing, always surprising—through the world of the story.

Writers and artists in every media will find Madden’s collection especially useful, even revelatory. Here is a chance to see the full scope of opportunities available to the storyteller, each applied to a single scenario: varying points of view, visual and verbal parodies, formal reimaginings, and radical shuffling of the basic components of the story. Madden’s amazing series of approaches will inspire storytellers to think through and around obstacles that might otherwise prevent them from getting good ideas onto the page. 99 Ways to Tell a Story provides a model that will spark productive conversations among all types of creative people: novelists, screenwriters, graphic designers, and cartoonists.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    208 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Chamberlain Bros.
  4. Publication date
    October 25, 2005
  5. Grade level
    8 and up
  6. Dimensions
    7.46 x 0.51 x 9.21 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1596090782
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1596090781
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Retelling the same one-page comic 99 different ways sounds boring, but Madden, a leading proponent of the value of formalist exercises, demonstrates how well boundaries can drive creativity, inspired by the similar work of Raymond Queneau. A new discovery awaits the reader on every page. The basic scene is a nonstory about a man who forgets why he's looking in the refrigerator. In the variations, new elements are introduced and removed: different characters, more panels, fewer closeups, flashbacks, text-only or a focus on sound or color effects. Madden acknowledges the history of the medium with allusions to various genres and characters (including the Yellow Kid, Krazy Kat and Winsor McCay's Rarebit Fiend). Favorites include a how-to on building a comic, a palindromic story that reads the same backward and forward, and a calligram (with text formed into a question mark shape). The book's format is ideal, with each page of comics facing a small identifying label, so approaches don't compete with each other, yet pages placed in sequence add up to another narrative. Anyone interested in comics or storytelling will learn much about the interaction between format and content through comparison of Madden's many ingenious approaches. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In 1947 erstwhile literary surrealist Raymond Queneau published what has been called his best, most characteristic book, Les exercices de style. In it the same tiny scenario is written in 99 different ways: once in each verb tense, as a sonnet, in free verse, as a telegram, and so on. Madden works similar magic in his own medium: comics. The "story": Madden closes a laptop, walks toward a refrigerator. From upstairs, his wife asks the time. He tells her and opens the fridge. But he can't remember what he meant to find in it. This is first unadventurously told in eight panels, using perpendicular perspective and unobtrusive progressions of--analogizing to film camera placements--medium, long, and close viewpoints. The fun begins with the very next presentation, "Monologue," in which Madden, seated with coffee, recalls the action to a fixed viewpoint (like that of a stationary camera). The remaining 97 ways reconstruct and/or rearrange the visual and/or verbal components and/or meaning in a breathtaking display of imagination that is often hilarious and literally, gloriously kaleidoscopic. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Chamberlain Bros.; 1st edition (October 25, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 208 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1596090782
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1596090781
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 8 and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.46 x 0.51 x 9.21 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 172 ratings

About the author

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Matt Madden

Matt Madden

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Matt Madden started self-publishing minicomics while living in Ann Arbor MI in the early 90s.  In 1996 Madden began writing reviews for The Comics Journal and other publications—more recently he reviewed comics and graphic novels for Bookforum. His first graphic novel, Black Candy, was published by Black Eye Books in 1998; his second, Odds Off, was published by Highwater Books in 2001. He also translates from French and Spanish. His translation from the French of Aristophane's The Zabîme Sisters (First Second) was published in the fall of 2010.

In 2002 he was named foreign correspondent of the French avant-garde comics group, OuBaPo (the Workshop for Potential Comics). His book 99 Ways to Tell a Story: Exercises in Style (Penguin), a comics adaptation of Raymond Queneau's Exercises in Style, which has numerous foreign editions including Japan, France, Italy, and Spain, further cemented his position as a leading figure in experimental comics.

Madden is based in Brooklyn NY with his wife, Jessica Abel, and their two children. He teaches comics at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan and he collaborated with his wife on a comics textbook, Drawing Words & Writing Pictures, published by First Second. The couple are also co-series editors of The Best American Comics from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Their follow-up to DW&WP, Mastering Comics, was published by First Second in the spring of 2012.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
172 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Dirk van Nouhuys
5.0 out of 5 stars Homage to Raymond Queneau
Reviewed in the United States on January 4, 2014
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This book is an imitation and homage to Raymond Queneau’s legendary Exercises in Style. Both works in turn reflect the tradition of books of etudes that teach and explore composition and keyboard techniques running from Bach at least to Shostakovich. Like Exercise in Style, 99 Ways To Tell a Story takes a very small incident: a man in what is evidently a two-story apartment leaves his workspace to go to the kitchen. He is interrupted by someone upstairs asking him what time it is. He then reaches a refrigerator and can't remember what he was looking for. This incident is depicted in 99 graphic styles ranging from highly realistic through minimalist to sumptuously drawn superheroes. I am no expert on comics, though I read some regularly, nor on graphic arts in general, but it seems to me this book would be a learning experience to anyone who considers different manners of storytelling in any medium besides being great fun.
6 people found this helpful
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Wailana C.
4.0 out of 5 stars A good way to step out of a familiar viewpoint and ...
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2018
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A good way to step out of a familiar viewpoint and see what a new perspective can do to your narrative. Some of the techniques are limited to visual artists, but a lot can still be applied to writing.
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Zebracorn
5.0 out of 5 stars Recomended for all creatives
Reviewed in the United States on July 12, 2018
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This book not only gave me great ideas for my own work, it sometimes had me laughing out loud.

The book is a bit yellowed due to age, But was in otherwise perfect condition. I would use this seller again.
One person found this helpful
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Bard
3.0 out of 5 stars Cute, but not what I was looking for.
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2020
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From the description, I thought it was billed more as more of a craft/exercise book. Instead, it features 99 graphic novel versions of the same scene. It's silly but other than that, it doesn't really "inspire" how to change up writing a scene.
2 people found this helpful
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Asia
5.0 out of 5 stars So happy I got it for so cheap!
Reviewed in the United States on May 20, 2019
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I can't believe how lucky I got. this book has been in my wishlist for years. Product came good as new tbh. Everything was still crisp and clean
2 people found this helpful
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Novice Handy-Person
5.0 out of 5 stars 99 ways and then some...excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2018
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Excellent examples of how to tell a story. I’m sure other writers and storytellers can think of many other different ways besides what’s listed in this book.
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everbeeneatin
5.0 out of 5 stars 99 ways is a great read--once you've got the hang of it.
Reviewed in the United States on October 6, 2013
Verified Purchase
First you have to relearn how to read in pictures and words. Then you have to look and read 99 different but similar points of view on a single theme. Don't make the mistake of thinking it's easy or boring. You'd be wrong on both accounts.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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stevek
5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, very clever & inspiring
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 6, 2023
Verified Purchase
Simply brilliant. If you like writing stories this cleverly insightful book is brimming with helpful catalysts that are creative door openers to the imagination. Personally it made me smile, ponder, reflect and reevaluate how I put my ideas together in my mind before I commit them to the page, so it has had a fundamental effect. Also widely applicable for songwriters and visual artists. Not so much a “How to” manual, more of a “Hey, what about having fun playing about with this idea!” manual. It has the power to lubricate the little grey cells if writer’s block comes to town. It has a genius all of its own, highly original, highly recommended.
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Cliente de Amazon
5.0 out of 5 stars Excelente
Reviewed in Mexico on October 23, 2018
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Excelente
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Filipe Barata
5.0 out of 5 stars Didático ao extremo
Reviewed in Brazil on November 9, 2017
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Dou aula de Quadrinhos. Uma disciplina que analisa a arte sequencial de maneira teórica, majoritariamente. Desde que adquiri esse livro, ele passou a ser uma referência fundamental pras minhas aulas. Leitura indispensável para quem estuda e/ou produz quadrinhos, cinema e afins.
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Elgida
5.0 out of 5 stars Unglaublich gut
Reviewed in Germany on September 3, 2013
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Die Idee ist brilliant: eine kurze Geschichte auf verschiedene Arten immer wieder anders zu erzählen. Was R. Queneau (von Madden als Inspirationsquelle genannt) mit Texten gemacht hat, gelingt Madden hier kongenial mit Bildern. Selbst für Menschen wie mich, die Comics nur hin und wieder und sehr selektiv lesen/schauen, ist dieses Buch eine Offenbarung. Inspirierend, überraschend, lustig, spannend.
Gerade in ihrer Vielfalt zeigen die Bildsequenzen so viele Dinge auf, die man sich sonst möglicherweise nur schwer vorstellen kann. Wie wirkt ein Perspektivenwechsel, wie das Umschalten zwischen Nah- und Fernsicht? Welchen Einfluss hat der Zeichenstil auf die Rezeption, welchen das Verhältnis von Wort und Schrift oder die Anzahl der Bilder? Welche Geschichten werden erzählt, wenn nur einzelne Details wegfallen oder hinzukommen? - dies nur als wenige Schlaglichter auf das, was das Buch leistet. Und das Gezeigte lässt sich ohne Problem übertragen auf andere visuelle, aber auch sprachliche Erzählformen.
Ich wette, Madden hätte noch weitere 99 Ideen für die visuelle Umsetzung der simplen Geschichte gehabt. Vielleicht gibt es eine Fortsetzung?
Das beste Buch, was ich seit Langem in den Händen gehalten habe - klare Kaufempfehlung, nicht nur für Comicfans!
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Sabrina Silvestri
5.0 out of 5 stars geniale
Reviewed in Italy on March 1, 2013
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da leggere anche a spizzichi e bocconi . anzi forse meglio leggerlo a pezzi per gustarsi ogni singola versione. La Comunicazione è tutto!!!
One person found this helpful
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