Synopses & Reviews
Collecting the first four issues of Adrian Tomine's acclaimed comic series optic nerve, this book offers sixteen concise, haunting tales of modern life. The characters here appear to be well-adjusted on the surface, but Tomine takes us deeper into their lives, subtly examining their struggle to connect with friends and lovers.
Adrian Tomine was born on May 31, 1974. He has produced two other book collections, 32 Stories and Summer Blonde, and he continues to publish new material in his comic book series Optic Nerve. The stories in this book have been translated into various languages worldwide. Tomine's comics and illustrations have also appeared in a variety of magazines, including The New Yorker, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Details, Fast Company, and Giant Robot. He lives in Berkeley, California. Collecting the first four issues of Adrian Tomine's acclaimed comic series Optic Nerve, Sleepwalk offers sixteen concise, haunting tales of modern life. The characters here appear to be well-adjusted on the surface, but Tomine takes us deeper into their lives, subtly examining their struggle to connect with friends and lovers. "Tomine works with the deft, terse strokes of a short story writer, following a small idea or a simple notion to its logical, and usually poetic conclusion. [He] has a cinematic knack for finding the proper composition, the telling angle to capture these pensive instants . . . Your heart skips along with those of Tomine's characters."New City Literary Supplement "Perfect, emotionally absorbing stories . . . Restrained text and mesmerizing art."Shift "Tomine has rocketed to prominence among America's young cartoonists . . . In these narratives, we see a keep, expanding intelligence at work . . . untempered by compromise."Wired "A perfect post-Valentine gift for overlooked hearts everywhere . . . Reading Optic Nerve is like peeking into someone's diary or flipping through your favorite photo album."The New York Daily News "Optic Nerve mines the depths of human expression and emotion . . . Tomine has the eye of a director, skillfully guiding readers through frames and sequences with fluid transitions and unique angles . . . An emotional whirlpool."The Rocket "Brilliant . . . we know we're in the hands of a major young comics artistvisually gripping and emotionally challenging."Kirkus Reviews "Tomine is a master of pseudorealistic stories in the tradition of Raymond Carver. This understated, black-and-white collection should satisfy fiction aficionados in any medium."Library Journal
Review
"Tomine is a master of pseudorealistic stories in the tradition of raymond carver. This understated, black-and-white collection should satisfy fiction aficionados in any medium." --
Library Journal"Brilliant... we know we're in the hands of a major young comics artist--visually gripping and emotionally challenging." --Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
"...deftly rendered character character sketches. In these narratives, we see a keen expanding intelligence at work". - Wired
"Worth reading just for Tomine's eloquent restraint and literary leanings". - The Boston Phoenix
For the first time ever, Adrian Tomine's remarkable stories from the fast four issues of his breakthrough comic book series Optic Nerve will be collected in one sharply-designed edition! Featured here are 16 stories by this prodigious 23-year old talent, from the title story about a man and his failure to come to grips with his failed relationship to the Eisner-nominated "Pink Frosting", a vivid and unsettling glimpse at the suggestion of violence murmuring beneath the surface of everyday life. As with Art Spiegelman's hugely-successful "Maus", this book transcends the limiting "funnybook" genre. Through a series of crisply-drawn stories, Tomine often focuses on the intricacies of human relationships and his almost restrained, understated approach has led more than one reviewer to call him the "Raymond Carver of comics".
Synopsis
Collecting the first four issues of Adrian Tomine's acclaimed comic series optic nerve, this book offers sixteen concise, haunting tales of modern life. The characters here appear to be well-adjusted on the surface, but Tomine takes us deeper into their lives, subtly examining their struggle to connect with friends and lovers.
Table of Contents
Sleepwalk -- Echo Ave. -- Long distance -- Drop -- Lunch break -- Summer job -- The connecting thread -- Pink frosting -- Layover -- Supermarket -- Hostage situation -- Dylan & Donovan -- Unfaded -- Six day cold -- Fourth of July -- Hazel eyes.