For this column, we will talk about a book released in 2020 and that deserves to be returned: Americana. It is a graphic novel by Luke Healy in which he tells us about his personal experience of the Pacific Crest Trail, a long hiking trail on the US west coast, which connects the Mexican border to the Canadian border, over 4280 km. Much more than an autobiographical story that shows us the personal evolution of the author, it is a real report that he offers us with a very complete "documentation". Indeed, Luke Healy gives us a cartography of the PCT, of the American landscape, draws us a social and drawn portrait of Americans themselves and raises current questions.
General structure of the work
The work is divided into six chronological chapters of unequal length, each introduced by a drawn map and two prose texts. The first returns to the author's past with retrospective events, and the second introduces the narrative in comics, into the "present" of the narrative. Luke Healy gives us to read the chronicle of his face to face with America, which then becomes an initiatory story and almost an epic. Moreover, the title refers to typical elements of American culture, with a mythical dimension. The term "Americana" could also evoke a long journey, an American version of Homer's Odyssey , from which also emanates a certain melancholy. The subtitle, "Or how I gave up my American dream", imposes the presence of the author from the cover and gives us the impression that he has made an American overdose. On the back cover, he uses a metaphor around food that is particularly meaningful and accessible because we have all already experienced "bingeing", to the point of disgusting ourselves. The entrance into the story is made by a double page that presents us with a dedication, "For 
Gus". Later, we learn that this "Gus" is his grandfather, who died while Luke Healy was doing PCT. The book then takes on a whole new dimension; It is a testimony, but also a tribute. The drawing is rather simple and, even if some have criticized the author for not paying tribute to the beauty of American landscapes, his style is quite accurate. There is an authenticity in his line that helps to create an intimate atmosphere, between the reader and the author that reveals himself completely. His drawing is not aggressive, it is almost "like a veil", and it is probably for this reason that it is so pleasant to follow Luke's journey. On the other hand, it is obvious that the author displays a bias that is not that of accurately representing the landscapes crossed. Indeed, its light design and the choice of two unique colors: red and blue have a real objective: to account for the monotony of the course since the landscapes are very similar, and even more so during the effort. To accentuate this idea, the author does not hesitate to play on repetition. The background of the boxes is repeated or the box itself is multiplied with only minimal changes.
A painful experience
The first chapter is devoted to the beginning of PCT in the California desert, dominated by pain, mainly physical. Luke Healy's face contracted, eyebrows furrowed, drops beading on his face because of the heat: you can almost feel his pain. Still, the overall tone is quite humorous. Indeed, he speaks to himself and splits himself since he says "you". For example, on page 14, he says, " You'd better train instead of eating Pringles, big smart. It's quite interesting because it shows that he has taken a step back and, this distancing, allows us, the readers, to feel closer to him. The author therefore appears to us as a simple, unpretentious man, who very willingly uses a familiar vocabulary. It is precisely at this moment that we understand what he means when he expressed the ambition to make an " honest book ". " I didn't want to erase the embarrassing aspects, or soften my irritating sides. Real people can be as boring, petty and narrow-minded as they are funny, kind or passionate! »
A physical and moral change
Throughout the story, Luke transforms through his drawing and his way of expressing himself. The first time the author appears to us, he is from behind, sitting on a sidewalk and 5 years old. A few pages later, at the beginning of the PCT, he looks like a tourist, sunglasses on his nose, asking someone to take a picture of him in front of the starting point. At page 285, he says he has the impression that the word "tourist" that bars his visa is an " identity that sticks to [him] Basques. At first, Luke also seems insecure; he doesn't know how to address people and feels almost ashamed to admit that he's a comic book writer. Yet, as he progresses, he becomes more confident, and for the first time in his life, he " feels like a tough guy ." He assumes his origins thanks to the course which is a real outlet. In addition, Luke Healy undergoes a real physical transformation; He lost a lot of weight during his journey and his beard also grew. Luke Healy is also evolving as a walker. He "becomes enduring and, while he was overtaken at first, he becomes faster and in turn overtakes the other hikers he is sometimes forced to wait. There is therefore a before and after the Pacific Crest Trail and America for the author, who comes out upset even if he is not aware of it at the time.
The story of a complex America
Luke Healy tells us the story of a complex America with characteristic landscapes, a multi-cultural population and political and social issues. In the first chapter, the author describes the Californian desert in which constructions are becoming increasingly rare. In short, it is a not very welcoming landscape, essentially made up of " dry and stunted bushes ". There are also typical cities, "western" atmosphere, far from the modernity and luxury of Los Angeles. The second chapter highlights the distance between the dream America and the real America. Next to the desert landscapes, Los Angeles and Malibu appear as very superficial places, as showcases of the American dream where " surfers enjoy the last waves of the evening ". We are then very far from the difficulty of the PCT, its water which is not always drinkable, walks under a blazing sun without being able to take a shower, "junk food"… But behind the scenes is shown; All this luxury has a price that nature pays dearly. In Chapter 3, Luke confides that he discovered a "more confidential, more intimate America " when they and his comrades left Vermont to visit " small towns ." This " sharpened " his hunger for America. On the other hand, by approaching the cities; The atmosphere changes, the road trip becoming a " sinister safari through the suburbs ".
Very marked cultural differences…
In Americana, the author often appears out of step and uncomfortable with others. Throughout the journey, Luke struggles to find his place in a group, as other people do not understand, for example, his sarcasm and "slag". This discrepancy is a source of despair for the author who feels rejected and he represents himself apart from the groups, in a different drawn treatment. This could be explained by the nationality of the author: he is Irish. For example, he tells us that the Great Famine is a joke for the Americans while for the Irish, it is a real catastrophe that has left wounds open. In the same way, in the United States, it never manages to find its place even if it integrates characteristics by mimicry, it can never become completely American. Yet the author does not seem more comfortable with his identity as an Irishman. With globalization, some countries have become uniform to the point of losing their identity, and this is what the author suffers. He is a citizen of the world, everywhere at home and nowhere at the same time. On the other hand, Luke feels guilty because of his privileges. For example, in front of the graffiti of the " arid maquis ", he realizes that he is doing tourism in a place that others try to reach at the risk of their lives, to be able to live justly. The Border Patrol destroys the hiding places of these poor people while, of course, they spare the PCT water points. In the same way, Luke is not more comfortable in the middle of luxury. He comes from a middle-class family in which he learned the value of things. All this excess is " too much ", especially when we know that the state of California alone counted nearly 150,000 homeless people in 2020.
That raise current questions
Throughout the album, the author addresses current issues, personal and collective. This allows the reader, at the same time as the author, to make an inner journey, to question himself and to question the society that surrounds us. When Luke Healy began his PCT, the United States was in a period of transition between two presidencies. Barack Obama is about to finish his term and " Donald Trump is a candidate. It's interesting to see that Americana came out in France while the U.S. was once again in a period of transition, with Joe Biden as Trump's direct opponent for the election. From then on, Luke Healy, far from having wanted to make a political book, asks questions about the future. He offers us a well-founded, documented, authentic story with a strong dimension that is both informative and playful. Americana opens with the issue of a wall on the Mexican border, which separates the two countries. Trump's campaign promise, in fact, this wall already existed before his election, something most people did not know. The author does not really denounce, but he leads us to question ourselves and this game happens through the gaze, through his drawn "me" that turns his head towards the wall and invites us to do the same. Throughout the book, Luke paints a portrait of an American population pierced by inequality; between modernity and traditionalism. He gets the people he meets talking and uses that data as a sample of the U.S. population. However, his attitude differs from objective journalism since he does not hesitate to give his opinion, to comment, to express his subjectivity, his opinion, without imposing it. He does it in a rather subtle way, usually humorously, so as not to influence his reader but rather to highlight a problem, a particular situation. It is also about the environment. Indeed, we learn that the desert around Los Angeles was composed of fields before. But, for the needs of the city, " we built the aqueduct to divert all the water to L.Has. Thus, each image of abundance seems to correspond to a darker part that the author denounces. As Luke makes his way back into the desert, he says it's " hard not to think of the green lawns of Malibu as you walk through that arid furnace ." The inequalities between the different landscapes testify precisely to the inequalities between Americans. Finally, throughout Americana, there are also issues relating to Ireland and, in particular, its economy. The "immigration" generation being a "sacrificed generation" because of the economic crisis of 2008. " Youth unemployment exceeded 20% " which forced them to leave, to settle elsewhere. Employers were overwhelmed and candidates were " overqualified ". It is for this reason that Luke Healy, after his return from the United States, did not stay in Ireland and preferred to settle in London.
The last word
Luke Healy gives us a moving personal story, while documenting and immortalizing the America he loved so much and made him suffer so much, through his PCT experience. Americana is a testimony, which allows us to see, as much as to hear, to feel, to touch and to feel America and its inhabitants but also nature, through various angles of entry: the past, the present, the future, the personal, the collective… He is also a privileged witness of the "immigration generation", this generation of young Irish who have nurtured the dream of a better elsewhere. 
It is the authentic story of a new experience that allows us to address subjects that speak to us all: the American Dream, Hollywood, the crisis, ecology, suffering, the quest for identity, mourning, politics, the relationship with others, but also the status of comic book author… Luke Healy did not produce a simple enumeration of facts frozen in time; Americana reports on a current situation, a society in motion, which evolves, which questions, questions us and still develops. Maybe that's the real concept of Americana? Accept to see reality as it is, without artifice, find solutions to live with it and improve it while being aware that it can never be perfect. And in any case, it is a little nugget that we encourage you to discover if it is not already done.
