Cecil and Jordan in New York: Stories by Gabrielle Bell [Hardcover]

Gabrielle Bell (Author)

Book Description

Release date: March 17, 2009

Short stories, including the adapted-to-film original Cecil and Jordan in New York

 

Gabrielle Bell splits her cartooning time between creating wry sketchbook autobiographical comics, such as those included in her 2006 graphic novel, Lucky, and working on more detailed fictional short stories. This collection represents her short comics work that has been published in various anthologies over the past five years, including Kramer’s Ergot, Mome, and The D+Q Showcase Book Four. The surrealist title story, in which a young woman turns herself into a chair so as not to be too much of a bother to those around her, is being adapted into a short film, Interior Design, by director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and The Science of Sleep) as part of the forthcoming Tôkyô! trilogy set for fall 2008 release.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Gabrielle Bell:

“With a selective eye for detail and a knack for capturing tart dialogue, Bell squeezes joy from an underemployed and underrealized 20-something existence.” —The Washington Post

About the Author

Gabrielle Bell is a Brooklyn-based cartoonist whose work includes the graphic novel Lucky. She has also been published in the anthologies Kramer’s Ergot, Mome, and The D+Q Showcase Book Four.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (March 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897299575
• ISBN-13: 978-1897299579
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #767,995 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gabrielle Bell was born in England and raised in California. In 1998 She began to collect her "Book of" miniseries (Book of Sleep, Book of Insomnia, Book of Black, etc), which resulted in When I'm Old and Other Stories, published by Alternative Comics. In 2001 she moved to New York and released her autobiographical series Lucky, published by Drawn and Quarterly. Her work has been selected for the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Best American Comics and the Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction, and she has contributed to McSweeneys, Bookforum, The Believer, and Vice Magazine. The title story of Bell's book, "Cecil and Jordan in New York" has been adapted for the film anthology Tokyo! by Michel Gondry. Her latest book, The Voyeurs, is available from Uncivilized Books. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars a charming but still complex look modern life December 18, 2010

By C. O. Aptowicz

Format:Hardcover

I am a big fan of autobiographical comics, and have a special place in my heart for ladies cartoonists (Julie Doucet, Julia Wertz, Alison Bechdel, etc...). When my partner picked this book out of the library, I didn't know what to think. The stories were clearly not all autobiographical -- some were based on noted source material, some were clearly surreal -- but there was an intimacy and an honesty to them that made them feel autobiographical. I really liked all the stories in the first half of the book, which balanced heartbreak and hope, personal focus with multi-person perspective. The stories in the later portion of the book aren't as strong to me, but I tend to like more traditionally structured stories, and the ones towards the end tended to be less straight-forward / more surreal than I prefer. Still, the artwork is clean, yet complex. And I love the various type of women -- real women! -- which are represented in the book. I recommend this book, and look forward to more work from Ms. Bell.