Men I Trust

‘Christ, I’m so pathetic. I should be the one comforting you. I’m supposed to be the parent.’ Tommi Parrish’s sophomore graphic novel Men I Trust presents a compelling and deeply resonating psychosocial exploration of a contemporary society drenched in self-doubt, self-loathing and bad decisions. Published by Scribe Publications and hitting shelves on 1 November 2022, Men I Trust is a profoundly contemporary read.

Men I Trust follows the lives of two characters, Eliza and Sasha. Eliza is a thirtysomething struggling mother with a dream to make it big on poetry. In reality, Eliza is juggling single motherhood, endures a toxic relationship with the father of her son, Justin, and has essentially closed herself off from the world. Sasha is a twentysomething who yearns for direction in life and someone to love. Well, more importantly, for someone to love her. Dabbling as a sex worker and prescription pills, Sasha sees something *different* in Eliza and craves intimacy with her. Whichever way she can get it.

Parrish’s writing is reflexive and goes to great lengths to illustrate the stormy life circumstances, challenges, and secret desires both Eliza and Sasha have. The most engaging sections of the graphic are the instances where both characters clash – that’s where the real fireworks start. The characters are refreshing and unapologetic. These characters are a vehicle to discuss queer desire, gender and sexuality, substance abuse, maturity and abusive relationships. For me, the queer friendship felt realistic and anecdotally speaking, close to home.

Men I Trust is beautiful; each panel is delicately drawn and painted, creating the hectic spaces Eliza and Sasha occupy. The text layout is engaging, and the panel art ranges from full-length one-pagers to pages with six discreet vignettes.

Author Tommi Parrish is a cartoonist, illustrator and art editor based in Montreal. Their previous work, The Lie and How We Told It, was warmly received, and won the 2019 Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBTQ Graphic Novel. Men I Trust’s origins were in The New Yorker website in 2020 under the title ‘Men I Trust: I Wanted to Hear Your Voice’, and the completed graphic novel – written, drawn and painted – took over three years to create.

Men I Trust is one of the most unique, vibrant fictional queer stories of 2022. It’s definitely worth a re-read!

Men I Trust
Available 1 November 2024
scribepublications.com.au/books-authors/books/men-i-trust