Boundless - by Jillian Tamaki (Paperback)

About the Book

"A woman post-breakup becomes obsessed with the "mirror Facebook" of herself-seeing a life that could be hers. Another woman, besieged by bed bugs, studies her relationship and the effects her recently-ended secret affair has on it. An anonymous music file surfaces on the internet and a cult springs up in its wake. A group of city animals briefly open their minds to us; A woman finds her clothes growing baggy, her shoes looser, as she shrinks the world around her recedes. Jillian Tamaki brings her combined characteristic realism and humor to her first collection of short stories. Boundless explores the lives of women and how the expectations of others influence their real and virtual selves. Mixing objective reality, speculative fiction, out-and-out fantasy, and a matter-of-fact feminism, Tamaki shows herself to be a short story talent equal to her peers Adrian Tomine and Eleanor Davis. As Tamaki experiments with art-styles, we see hyper-realist detailing dueling with thick chunky blocks of ink, each delicately setting the mood for her character's inner turmoil."--

Book Synopsis

APPEARED ON BEST OF THE YEAR LISTS FROM NPR, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, WASHINGTON POST, VULTURE, BOOKLIST, AND MORE

The cartoonist of This One Summer and SuperMutant Magic Academy explores the virtual and IRL world of contemporary women via a lens both surreal and wry

Jenny becomes obsessed with a strange "mirror Facebook," which presents an alternate, possibly better, version of herself. Helen finds her clothes growing baggy, her shoes looser, and as she shrinks away to nothingness, the world around her recedes as well. The animals of the city briefly open their minds to us, and we see the world as they do. A mysterious music file surfaces on the internet and forms the basis of a utopian society-or is it a cult?

Boundless is at once fantastical and realist, playfully hinting at possible transcendence: from one's culture, one's relationship, oneself. This collection of short stories is a showcase for the masterful blend of emotion and humour of award-winning cartoonist Jillian Tamaki.

Review Quotes

"Each story is as indelible as it is singular [and] so beautifully told that after a while you begin to feel that Tamaki... is capable of almost anything. And perhaps she is."--The Guardian

"Restlessly versatile... Boundless collects short stories that are so far apart from one another in tone and technique that they could almost pass for the work of entirely different artists."--New York Times

"Boundless feels at one time wholly of this moment and otherworldly, presenting a reality that's tilted slightly off its axis. Her evocative drawings are intimate, energetic, in moments loose and casual, in others tight and finely rendered."--Boston Globe

"Jillian Tamaki's short comics are propelled by contemporary phenomena... but such elements never seem to shackle Boundless to the present. Tamaki's existential wistfulness lifts text messages and memes into the realm of archetype [with] inventive, versatile art."--NPR Best Books of 2017

"[Jillian Tamaki] dazzles with her impressive range in this collection...Lush, vibrant, and packed with emotion."--Entertainment Weekly

"Tamaki's voice shines throughout this masterpiece... as she effortlessly blends love and pain, fantasy and reality."--Nylon

"A fantastical and surreal look at modern life, in gorgeous pencil sketch."--Glamour

"Jillian Tamaki boldly emerges as a new titan of the comics medium... The whole endeavor feels like Adrian Tomine meets Jorge Luis Borges, while also feeling like nothing we've seen before."--New York Magazine

"A profoundly honest, bittersweet picture of human nature, made all the more haunting by her enchanting artwork."--Booklist, Starred Review

"Revelatory... Tamaki has delivered an essential collection of truly modern fiction in comics form."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Jillian Tamaki seems capable of drawing anything, in any style, and making it appear effortless. Her writing could be described in the same way, and it's thrilling to see those twin skills of hers united in service of these daring, unpredictable, and quietly strange stories."--Adrian Tomine, author of Killing and Dying

"Jillian Tamaki's finely hewn tales read like transmissions from a parallel universe just as lonely as our own, but in a more beautifully felt, hilariously ephemeral way. These are precious stories, stories to fall into like an odd dream you left too soon."--Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

About the Author

Jillian Tamaki is a cartoonist, illustrator, and educator raised in Calgary, Alberta. She is the author of the Eisner Award-winning graphic novels SuperMutant Magic Academy and Boundless, and the author-illustrator of two picture books, including most recently Our Little Kitchen. With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, she is the co-creator of the young adult graphic novels SKIM and This One Summer, which won a Governor General's Award and Caldecott Honor. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.