[Adrian Tomine] has more ideas in twenty panels than novelists have
in a lifetime." --Zadie Smith
After enjoying over six months on the New York Times Bestseller list
and receiving a rave review from the same institution, acclaimed
cartoonist Adrian Tomine's Killing and Dying is now available in
paperback, with an updated cover and French flaps. With this work,
Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms
his place not only as one of the most significant creators of
contemporary comics, but as one of the great voices of modern American
literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates: the
weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family,
the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century.
"Amber Sweet" shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a
hyper-connected world; "A Brief History of the Art Form Known as
Hortisculpture" details the invention and destruction of a vital new art
form; "Translated, from the Japanese," is a lush, full-color display of
storytelling through still images; the title story, Killing and Dying,
centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six
interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving
portrait of contemporary life.
Adrian Tomine is a master of the small gesture, equally deft at
signaling emotion via a subtle change of expression or writ large across
landscapes illustrated in full color. Killing and Dying is a fraught,
realist masterpiece.
