Killing and Dying - by Adrian Tomine (Paperback)

About the Book

"'Killing and Dying' is a stunning showcase of the possibilities of the graphic novel medium and a wry exploration of loss, creative ambition, identity, and family dynamics. With this work, Adrian Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms his place not only as one of the most significant creators of contemporary comics but as one of the great voices of modern American literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates here: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century."--Amazon.com.

Book Synopsis

"[Adrian Tomine] has more ideas in twenty panels than novelists have in a lifetime." --Zadie Smith

After enjoying over six months on the New York Times Bestseller list and receiving a rave review from the same institution, acclaimed cartoonist Adrian Tomine's Killing and Dying is now available in paperback, with an updated cover and French flaps. With this work, Tomine (Shortcomings, Scenes from an Impending Marriage) reaffirms his place not only as one of the most significant creators of contemporary comics, but as one of the great voices of modern American literature. His gift for capturing emotion and intellect resonates: the weight of love and its absence, the pride and disappointment of family, the anxiety and hopefulness of being alive in the twenty-first century.

"Amber Sweet" shows the disastrous impact of mistaken identity in a hyper-connected world; "A Brief History of the Art Form Known as Hortisculpture" details the invention and destruction of a vital new art form; "Translated, from the Japanese," is a lush, full-color display of storytelling through still images; the title story, "Killing and Dying," centers on parenthood, mortality, and stand-up comedy. In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life.

Adrian Tomine is a master of the small gesture, equally deft at signaling emotion via a subtle change of expression or writ large across landscapes illustrated in full color. Killing and Dying is a fraught, realist masterpiece.

Review Quotes

"[Adrian Tomine] is an emotional x-ray machine. All-seeing, all-knowing." --Rachel Cooke, The Guardian

"One of the nation's greatest and most versatile cartoonists." --Scott Timberg, Salon

"Tomine may be my favorite comics artist -- deft and subtle, with a bittersweet understanding of the tension between aspiration and loss." --David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times

"Achingly human and divinely rendered." --Kirkus

"A deft, deadpan masterpiece filled with heartache interspersed with the shock of beauty." --Publishers Weekly Starred Review

About the Author

Adrian Tomine was born in 1974 in Sacramento, California. He began self-publishing his comic book series Optic Nerve when he was sixteen, and in 1994 he received an offer to publish from Drawn & Quarterly. His comics have been anthologized in publications such as McSweeney's, Best American Comics, and Best American Nonrequired Reading. Both his graphic novel Shortcomings and his memoir The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist were named New York Times Notable Books of the year. Since 1999, Tomine has been a regular contributor to The New Yorker. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughters.