ewee (09/26): Shortcomings by Adrain Tomine

Those of you with long memories might recall that I read 10 issues of Optic Nerve and had the gall to count it as a book. Well, I'm gonna top that (the gall, that is). Tomine has finally finished the series and pulled the story he started in Optic Nerve #9 into a book. This is that book. And I'm counting it. Again.

Wait wait wait. Before you get all into a tizzy, I followed the rules. I started it (again) AFTER the Sept 8th 2007 start date, and finished it before the Sept 7th 2008 end date. So, true, some of it is a repeat. But it was worth the revisiting.

Tomine's story is agonizingly beautiful. The crisp drawings, the embarrassing truthfulness, the beauty (in spite of? because of?) all the squirmy truthfulness. I couldn't help but devour it. Tomine's protagonist, Ben Tanaka, is someone I feel like I already know...and loathe. And yet, there's an element of self-hatred and negativity that's all too familiar (thus the squirminess). It's all very real, and of course, I was taken in by all the deets from the bay area (one of my fave brekkie joints!). But what will happen now that Tomine is in the big apple? (And how much of this story is really real? Wait. Don't answer that. I don't wanna know.)

Eh, click any of the links above (in the title or text) for better reviews. Gorgeous, worth owning. And highly recommended as a Sunday evening read in your cosiest chair, while surrounded by dogs and love.

[Gentle readers might note that if I had found the last installment of Optic Nerve (#11) before I came across this book, I'd still be on book 8. But I'm hoping that our gentle readers will continue to be forgiving--especially as I'm still 3 books behind!]