Synopses & Reviews
With gentle humor and a keen eye for revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. From the creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller The Influencing Machine: Brook Gladstone On the Media.
In A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe), autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, Singapore, and the former Yugoslavia. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilsonand#8217;s stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand.
With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpackerand#8217;s conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux.
In the collectionand#8217;s title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monkand#8217;s blessing. In and#147;On a Mission,and#8221; Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And the bookand#8217;s longest story, and#147;Cremations, Cubicles, and Cant,and#8221; is a brand-new 20-page tale about the death of Neufeldand#8217;s grandmother, which contrasts her Jewish funeral service with a Balinese cremation ceremony; it forms the emotional heart of the book.
Evoking both Tintin-creator Hergand#233; and and#147;comics journalistand#8221; Joe Sacco, and#147;Neufeldand#8217;s stories operate on a very human level, and his art reflects that with its careful depictions of people from different cultures and backgrounds.and#8221; [iComics] Throughout the collection, Neufeld uses the comics form to experiment with narrative and point-of-view. The themes and conventions of the eight stories in A Few Perfect Hours will resonate with readers both within and outside the comics world.
Comics Worth Reading observes that Neufeldand#8217;s comics and#147;provide a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of travelling and#151; to experience and come to terms with the unknown.and#8221;
Review
"Neufeld is drawn to the trip's potential for danger, and what might ordinarily be a merely entertaining anecdote becomes the occasion for lucid, unsparing self-examination. Neufeld draws himself as a slightly neurotic caricature, and his backgrounds show how salient details can be reduced to a few clear lines. He has an appealingly clean visual style and uses it to highlight the differences between his tourist self and his surroundings." andmdash
Publishers Weekly"Older teens contemplating their own backpacking adventures may be fascinated, especially if they also dream of traveling with close companions." andmdash; Ray Olson, Booklist
Synopsis
Autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, the former Yugoslavia, and New York City. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson on a volunteer expedition to an organic farm in Malaysia, their stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpacker's conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux. In the collection's title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monk's blessing. In "On a Mission," Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And in "Cremations, Cubicles &Cant," Neufeld juxtaposes his grandmother's Jewish funeral with a Hindu cremation ceremony he witnessed on Bali.
Synopsis
Takes a dramatic illustrated tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, the former Yugoslavia, and New York City
About the Author
Josh Neufeld: Josh is the creator of the Eisner and Harvey Award-nominated book
A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, and the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller
The Influencing Machine: Brook Gladstone On the Media. He was a longtime artist for Harvey Pekarand#8217;s
American Splendor.