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Original Essays | April 29, 2013
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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsShortcomingsby Adrian Tomine
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The 2007 New York Times Book Review Notable Book now in paperback Lauded for its provocative and insightful portrayal of interpersonal relationships, Adrian Tomines politically charged Shortcomings was one of the most acclaimed books of 2007. Among many interviews and reviews in outlets around the country, Tomine was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPRs Fresh Air and also in The Believer, New York magazine, and Giant Robot. Shortcomings landed on countless “best of” lists, including those in Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times; was praised by Junot Díaz in Publishers Weekly; and was the subject of a solo review in The New York Times Book Review that drew comparison between Tomine and Philip Roth. The groundbreaking graphic novel now returns in paperback. Adrian Tomine is a graduate of The University of California Berkeley and lives in Brooklyn, New York. His illustrations have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Esquire, and Rolling Stone, and his stories have appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading and An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories. A New York Times Notable Book of the Year Shortcomings, Adrian Tomines first long-form graphic novel, is the story of Ben Tanaka, a confused, obsessive Japanese American male in his late twenties, and his cross-country search for contentment (or at least the perfect girl). Along the way, Tomine tackles modern culture, sexual mores, and racial politics with brutal honesty and lacerating, irreverent humor, while deftly bringing to life a cast of painfully real antihero characters. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, Tomine has acquired a cultlike fan following and has earned status as one of the most widely acclaimed cartoonists of our time. Shortcomings was serialized in Tomines iconic comic book series Optic Nerve and was excerpted in McSweeneys Quarterly Concern #13. “Adrian Tomine . . . may be the best prose writer of the bunch. His young people, falling in and out of relationships, paralyzed by shyness and self-consciousness, take on a certain dignity and individuality.”—Charles McGrath, The New York Times Magazine “The author is an expert at hooking the reader without tricks or obvious effort, and you'll be tempted to buzz through Shortcomings in an hour. But you'll want to slow down to take in the detailed black-and-white panels that casually document the way we live now. Tomine has always been attracted to love gone wrong among the hesitant young men and women of the bourgeois-bohemian set, but he gets his subject across in the unsentimental style of an anthropologist's report. Unlike the more playful graphic novelists who influenced him, Daniel Clowes and the Hernandez brothers, Tomine isn't given to flights of surrealism, rude jests or grotesque images. He is a mild observer, an invisible reporter, a scientist of the heart. His drawing style is plain and exact. The dialogue appearing inside his cartoon balloons is pitch-perfect and succinct. He's daring in his restraint.”—Jim Windolf, The New York Times “Graphic novels are rarely this disquieting and subtle.”—The Boston Globe
“Perfect . . . Shortcomings is Tomine's richest and most rewarding read, packed with the most human characters he has ever created.”—The Star Tribune (Minneapolis) “One of the most masterful cartoonists of his generation. [Shortcomings] is equal parts poignant, hilarious, and sad.”—The Village Voice “Tomine's genius is to strip his medium of every possible type of grandiosity or indulgence, and the result is that life itself floods in. His mise-en-scène rivals Eric Rohmer's in its gentle precision, and his mastery of narrative time suggests Alice Munro. Shortcomings, as near as he'd get to a grand statement, is as deceptively simple and perfect as a comic book gets.”—Jonathan Lethem, author of The Fortress of Solitude “Graphic literature's most gifted realist . . . Fiercely honest.”—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“[Shortcomings] follows moody movie-theater owner Ben Tanaka, who struggles to hang on to his Asian girlfriend while secretly lusting after white ladies. Hes sad and somewhat despicable, and yet Tomine, being the understated virtuoso he is, effortlessly spins him into a Gen-X hero . . . Exploring race, adulthood, and ambition with exquisitely tuned humor and poignancy, Shortcomings is a graphic narrative as piercingly realistic as any prose fiction.”—Entertainment Weekly ( Synopsis:Tomines first long-form graphic novel is the story of Ben Tanaka, a confused, obsessive Japanese American male in his late 20s, and his cross-country search for contentment (or at least the perfect girl).
Synopsis:The 2007 New York Times Book Review Notable Book now in paperback Lauded for its provocative and insightful portrayal of interpersonal relationships, Adrian Tomines politically charged Shortcomings was one of the most acclaimed books of 2007. Among many interviews and reviews in outlets around the country, Tomine was interviewed by Terry Gross on NPRs Fresh Air and also in The Believer, New York magazine, and Giant Robot. Shortcomings landed on countless “best of” lists, including those in Entertainment Weekly and The New York Times; was praised by Junot Díaz in Publishers Weekly; and was the subject of a solo review in The New York Times Book Review that drew comparison between Tomine and Philip Roth. The groundbreaking graphic novel now returns in paperback. Synopsis:FROM THE PREEMINENT CARTOONIST OF HIS GENERATION, THE MOST ANTICIPATED GRAPHIC NOVEL OF 2007
Shortcomings, Adrian Tomine's first long-form graphic novel, is the story of Ben Tanaka, a confused, obsessive Japanese American male in his late twenties, and his cross-country search for contentment (or at least the perfect girl). Along the way, Tomine tackles modern culture, sexual mores, and racial politics with brutal honesty and lacerating, irreverent humor, while deftly bringing to life a cast of painfully real antihero characters. A frequent contributor to The New Yorker, Tomine has acquired a cultlike fan following and has earned status as one of the most widely acclaimed cartoonists of our time. Shortcomings was serialized in Tomine's iconic comic book series Optic Nerve and was excerpted in McSweeney's Quarterly Concern #13, About the AuthorAdrian Tomine is the critically acclaimed cartoonist of the comic book series Optic Nerve; the graphic novels 32 Stories, Sleepwalk, Summer Blonde, and Shortcomings; and the art book Scrapbook. He is also an illustrator for The New Yorker, Esquire, and Rolling Stone, and his stories have appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading and An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Tomine lives in Brooklyn, New York. What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
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