Inklings Book Review by ChristineMM

My Summary Statement: A Moving Memoir of an Artistic Child

My Rating: 5 stars out of 5 = I Love It

Title: Inklings
Author: Jeffrey Koterba
Genre: Memoir
Publication: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (November 3, 2009)
Full Retail Price: $25.00

Jeffrey Koterba’s first book is Inklings, a memoir (in traditional text not a graphic format memoir). Koterba is no stranger to publication, he’s a professional editorial cartoonist . He’s also a musician. His story is told in parts, about his early childhood at age six and seven, his older teen years and then in his adult life.

Koterba is a good storyteller. From the beginning, telling about his life at age six I felt I was in his home and family with him, experiencing it all. He is the oldest child in the family, whose parents fought and struggled financially to make ends meet. The chaos of living with a pack rat (perhaps a hoarder) in a family with constant worry about money and anxiety was clearly conveyed. Both the author and his father suffered from ‘nervous habits’, twitches diagnosed later in life as Tourette’s Syndrome. His father was a drummer too, finding joy in playing the drums as a second job and at home for pleasure. Little Jeffrey found peace and happiness in drawing and teenaged Jeffrey became a guitar player.

The book has a certain tone to it, I hesitate to call it sadness, perhaps melancholy is a better word, or maybe I was just feeling the oppression of a tense household and living hand to mouth? I was happy to read of the peace that making art and music gave him. The happy emotions about drawing and music making kept the story from feeling oppressive or depressing, as there was a route of escape, escape into the imagination, release of emotions channeled into drawings, and later thoughts turned into song lyrics and creating original music. I’ll confess to shedding a few tears and wanting to hug the boy Jeffrey or to give words of encouragement to the teenaged Jeffrey. But I want to be clear, this book is not like some other memoirs that were so upsetting that I had to shelve them to keep from getting depressed.

I enjoy stories about artists and creative people who find joy in creative work as a child, hearing of what they did to create, how the adults in their lives reacted to their creativity, and how creating enhanced their life in childhood and later on. I also enjoy stories from adult professional artist and musicians about how their early creative energy was used in their lives, what twists and turns their lives took and if and how they finally were able to make a living from their art. How a person can get from point A to fulfilling their dream of at point B is interesting to me. Being a creative person myself, of course I was cheering Koterba along hoping he could make a living out of his passion! All of this is included in this memoir.

I also have an interest in stories about real life told through the eyes and mind of a child. I am interested in kids telling their stories of school, especially facing adversity at school whether from academic issues, learning disabilities, teachers or negative interactions with other students. I am curious to hear stories of how kids get themselves through school, how they survived various common adversities and how those experiences affected their development along the way, and helped form who they turned out to be as mature adults (especially when the outcomes are good). Stories that tell of that “one special teacher” that made a difference in a child’s life or the one school subject that helped get them through the rest of their school life are of interest to me. Most of the things I just mentioned were touched upon in Jeffrey Koterba’s memoir.

I should also mention I especially enjoyed the descriptions of life seen through the eyes of a creative child. Games of make believe and wishing he could shrink down and live inside his toys are some things in this story are things my sons have said and done or that I myself did as a child.

I also enjoyed hearing of how Koterba’s life experiences helped shape who he is as a father. What kind of father decided he wanted to be to his son based on what he thinks is a more ideal experience was of enlightening. (I’m in the same boat, crediting not the parenting books from experts but my own life experience as a major influence of how I parent my own children.)

Another item to ponder is the question of right brained, creative people who have a neurological diagnosis whose proposed treatments (in the case of Tourette’s Syndrome, prescription medications) may take away or diminish the person’s unique gifts and talents. It’s a hard decision to make about seeking conventional medical treatment or declining it. I won’t tell the details of this, you’ll have to read the book for yourself to find out.

Throughout the book the author does what many adults do, takes bits and pieces of memory and information shared by some relatives and adds new information discovered from other relatives as life goes on, to piece together a more complete picture of reality. I was especially interested in something I myself am dealing with, that the experience of each member of a family can be so different from the others who lived in the same family. No two siblings in the same family experience their own parents and siblings like the others. We can live the same experiences but our impressions of them can vary greatly.


If you enjoy memoir and like to read a story that includes perspectives from early childhood, teenager years and adulthood, from a creative person who became a professional artist and musician, you’ll enjoy this book. If you have an interest in hearing a story about a boy growing up with Tourette’s (but undiagnosed at the time) then you will be interested in this. If you like memoir about kids growing up with imperfect family lives but who wind up living meaningful adult lives you’ll like this book.

If you are interested in reading more about the idea that spending time doing our passion in life can greatly enhance our lives (even if it winds up not being a source of income or our main profession), I encourage you to read Sir Ken Robinson’s THE ELEMENT: HOW FINDING YOUR PASSION CHANGES EVERYTHING and to watch his free lectures online.







Disclosure: I did not receive monetary payment to write this review from any source. I received an advance reading copy of this book through the Amazon.com Vine review program. I cannot resell this book or give it away. It’s retail value to me is therefore $0. I do not own this book per the Amazon Vine agreement and must give it back to them if they request it.

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