“Adrian Tomine can draw, think, write and feel. He sees everything, he knows everything; he’s in your apartment, he’s on the subway, he’s in your dreams. He knows about aging baseball fans and delusional horticulturists, he knows hapless fathers and awkward nerd-girl stand-ups, he knows the single and the married, the mad and the sane, knows when to use a speech bubble and when silence is enough. He has more ideas in twenty panels than novelists have in a lifetime.” -Zadie Smith, Author of “Swing Time”
Panels from “Killing and Dying” courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly.
Park Slope resident Adrian Tomine has garnered critical acclaim for his drawings. He began self publishing his comic book series “Optic Nerve” when he was sixteen. His comics have been anthologized in publications such as McSweeny’s, Best American Comics, and Best American nonrequired Reading, and his graphic novel “Short-comings” was a New York Times Notable Nook of the year. Since 1999, Tomine has been a regular contributor to the New Yorker.
His latest book “Killing and Dying”, has enjoyed over six months on the New York Times Bestseller list and received a rave review from the same institution. “Killing and Dying” is now available in paperback, with an updated cover and French flaps. As part of his 2018 winter tour, Tomine will be in conversation with New York Times Critic Jason Zinoman on Feb. 6th at Books Are Magic.
With this work, Tomine 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.
In six interconnected, darkly funny stories, Tomine forms a quietly moving portrait of contemporary life. Each of the six stories in “Killing and Dying” is unique and visually arresting. “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 thee 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.
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.
From “Killing and Dying” courtesy of Drawn and Quarterly.
