Synopses & Reviews
An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talentand#8212;an artist, cook, and illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad reveal the importance of living life with your eyes wide open. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Best known for her witty illustrations, and as a cook beside her mischievous father in her familyand#8217;s legendary Manhattan restaurant, in andlt;Iandgt;Mumbai New York Scranton, andlt;/Iandgt;Tamara Shopsin offers a brilliantly inventive, spare, and elegant chronicle of a year in her life characterized by impermanence. In a refreshingly original voice alternating between tender and brazen, Shopsin recounts a trip to the Far East with her sidekick husband and the harrowing adventure that unfolds when she comes home. Entire worlds, deep relationships, and indelible experiences are portrayed in Shopsinand#8217;s deceptively simple and sparse language and drawings. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Blending humor, love, suspenseand#8212;and featuring photographs by Jason Fulfordand#8212;andlt;Iandgt;Mumbai New York Scranton andlt;/Iandgt;inspires a kaleidoscope of emotions. Shopsinand#8217;s surprising and affecting tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.
Review
"I've been trying to eat my way through Shopsin's menu and realize it's going to be a lifetime endeavor.
Review
and#8220;Shopsin tells us this story in a terse, true manner. A beautifully illustrated memoir full of love, with no bullsh*t.and#8221;
Review
and#8220;Sometimes a friend gives you a piece of writing and you are terrified to read it because what if it turns out your friend is a terrible writer? This was a particular concern with Tamara Shopsin, for not only is she a friend, but a brilliant designer, illustrator, cartoonist, and short order cook whose work in all these areas have long delighted and inspired me. So I am very relieved to report that MUMBAI NEW YORK SCRANTON is as virtuosic as her pancakes, which is to say: perfect, meaningful, and astonishing.and#8221;
Review
"Tamara Shopsin writes like she illustrates--wry and succinct, with
Review
"This (true) story is as dramatic as they come, complete with twin sister, eccentric father and the love of a good man. But because Shopsin is so fundamentally uninterested in being flashy, she gets our attention by not trying to get our attention. andlt;Iandgt;Mumbai New York Scrantonandlt;/Iandgt; gathers momentum secretly, accruing emotion entirely through food, art, furniture and the achingly mundane details that any survivor will recognize. Could not. Put. It down."
Review
"A charming, rewarding,and unusual narrative." Miranda July - author of No One Belongs Here More Than You and It Chooses You
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Shopsin's dry, staccato sentences are very funny. Her irreverent illustrations and pithy, whimsical writing complement each other perfectly as [she] recounts details that... together limn a creative, playful, wry and resourceful woman in a crisis. Shopsin's compelling and unconventional memoir is terrifying until you realize that, since she's writing about it, there has to be a happy ending."andlt;/divandgt;
Review
andlt;divandgt;"[Shopsin's] wholly original work defies categorization. Brimming with observations, details, snippets of conversations and photographs by her husband, Jason Fulford, andlt;Iandgt;Mumbai New York Scrantonandlt;/Iandgt; is funny, intimate and dear. Shopsin has a laser-like focus for specificity...[her] eye for detail turns the mundane into the sublime and make you want to partake of any adventure she might embark on."andlt;/divandgt;
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Some memoirs are about travel. Others are about surviving a bigger-than-life family. Many of them are about illness, and the rare memoir gives readers a private glimpse of a marriage that's also a creative partnership. Just like one of the fabled items from her father's menu...Shopsin's memoir does them all. Her spare, present-tense narration is interspersed with her drawings...and Fulford's eerily composed photographs...building a larger world through association. Text and image work together in a marriage of complements. Reading the memoir feels like eavesdropping on Shopsin and Fulford as they collaborate."andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;/divandgt;
Review
andlt;divandgt;"andlt;Iandgt;Mumbai New York Scrantonandlt;/Iandgt; is a fresh, engaging memoir...written in an episodic, stream-of-consciousness style. [Shopsin's] descriptions of life with [her husband] Jason are especially sweet and affecting, while what unfolds after their return to New York is harrowing and tense. Her portrayal of her quirky family, is vivid and loving; as an urban social history spanning the generations, it is sheer pleasure. A terrific and winning memoir, a love letter to a city and a family. Shopsin can add writing to her list of talents along with drawing, crafting, cooking and her egg-cracking prowess."andlt;/divandgt;
Review
"A
Review
andlt;divandgt;"I've been trying to eat my way through Shopsin's menu and realize it's going to be a lifetime endeavor.
Review
andlt;divandgt;"Tamara Shopsin writes like she illustrates--wry and succinct, with
Review
andlt;divandgt;"A
Review
"I've been trying to eat my way through Shopsin's menu and realize it's going to be a lifetime endeavor. Now Tamara, Kenny Shopsinand#8217;s daughter, has written a sprawling travel memoir that ranges all over the planet and which I finished the same day I started reading. Slinging simple declarative sentences that hide sounding depths, and speaking in a quiet voice that you realize too late is the hum of a jet engine, you'll race to Mumbai and back before you have time to process the ride. But oh man will the memory linger."
Review
and#8220;Tamara Shopsin writes like she illustratesand#8212;wry and succinct, with judiciously placed punch. She scatters Hansel and Gretel-style crumbs of fantastic, compelling memoir in woods of travelogue. Mumbai, New York, Scranton is muscular, efficient, understated, and surprising.and#8221;
Synopsis
An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent an artist, cook, and New York Times illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad revealed the importance of living life with your eyes wide open.
An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent an artist, cook, and illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad reveal the importance of living life with your eyes wide open.
Best known for her witty illustrations, and as a cook beside her mischievous father in her family s legendary Manhattan restaurant, in Mumbai New York Scranton, Tamara Shopsin offers a brilliantly inventive, spare, and elegant chronicle of a year in her life characterized by impermanence. In a refreshingly original voice alternating between tender and brazen, Shopsin recounts a trip to the Far East with her sidekick husband and the harrowing adventure that unfolds when she comes home. Entire worlds, deep relationships, and indelible experiences are portrayed in Shopsin s deceptively simple and sparse language and drawings.
Blending humor, love, suspense and featuring photographs by Jason Fulford Mumbai New York Scranton inspires a kaleidoscope of emotions. Shopsin s surprising and affecting tale will keep you on the edge of your seat."
Synopsis
An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent—an artist, cook, and illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad reveal the importance of living life with your eyes wide open.
Best known for her witty illustrations, and as a cook beside her mischievous father in her familys legendary Manhattan restaurant, in Mumbai New York Scranton, Tamara Shopsin offers a brilliantly inventive, spare, and elegant chronicle of a year in her life characterized by impermanence. In a refreshingly original voice alternating between tender and brazen, Shopsin recounts a trip to the Far East with her sidekick husband and the harrowing adventure that unfolds when she comes home. Entire worlds, deep relationships, and indelible experiences are portrayed in Shopsins deceptively simple and sparse language and drawings.
Blending humor, love, suspense—and featuring photographs by Jason Fulford—Mumbai New York Scranton inspires a kaleidoscope of emotions. Shopsins surprising and affecting tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;Tamara Shopsin andlt;/Bandgt;is a graphic designer and illustrator whose work has been featured in andlt;iandgt;The New York Timesandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;Goodandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;Timeandlt;/iandgt;, andlt;iandgt;Wiredandlt;/iandgt;, and andlt;iandgt;Newsweekandlt;/iandgt;. She has designed book jackets for authors including Jorge Luis Borges, Charles Lindbergh, and Vladimir Nabokov. Two volumes of her drawings have been published under the titles andlt;iandgt;Cand#8217;est le Pied!andlt;/iandgt; and andlt;iandgt;Cand#8217;est le Pied IIandlt;/iandgt;. In her spare time she creates and sells novelties and cracks eggs at her familyand#8217;s restaurant in New York, Shopsinand#8217;s. She is currently a 2012 fellow with the nonprofit Code for America.