Salmon Doubts [Paperback]

Adam Sacks (Author, Artist)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 20, 2004

Beautifully illustrated and deeply imaginative, the cast of conversing fish in Salmon Doubts philosophize about the meaning of life as they make their ultimate journey upstream to spawn. With lushly-rendered artwork, uproarious humor, intricately imagined settings, and striking, inventive page layouts, Adam Sacks envelops readers with his genius. The characters in Salmon Doubts fall outside the conventions of the "funny animal" or "anthropomorphic" comics genres - they look like animals, and do not wear little waistcoats or drive little automobiles. But saddled with the full weight of consciousness and speech, they testify just as much to the Human Condition as to Natural Selection.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This animal fable in modern dress concerns a salmon named Geoff tormented by existential questions: why was he hatched? how can he overcome his shyness around the female salmon with whom he longs to spawn? who are these self-appointed leaders of the group, and how is it that they have their power? why must he swim upstream and face his doom? Geoff eventually finds his destiny by breaking away from the pack and heading out toward the open ocean, while his best friend, Henry, is content to continue upstream, spawn with his love-object, Samantha, and die. Sacks's graphic novel is really more of a short story; it mostly has only one or two panels per page. The point, though, isn't its plot: it's the central allegory of the teenage struggle to define one's identity. Sacks's artwork is smooth and witty, executed with bold, expressively gestural lines. Geoff and Henry look exactly alike, and like all the other salmon—that's sort of the idea—but the snappy dialogue keeps it clear who's who, and the scenes where Geoff discovers the joys of the great ocean (and the terrors of humans with fishing poles) vary the fluid visual pace of the rest of the story just enough to get across what a difference small things can make in a young creature's environment.
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From School Library Journal

Adult/High School–Life in a school of fish is not all that different from life in a high school, Sacks posits in this clever, quietly funny graphic novel about making friends and negotiating relationships. The story follows two very different salmon. In youth, shy Henry begs Geoff for tips on how to talk to other fish. The outgoing Geoff replies, "Do you think they're saying anything important? OF COURSE NOT! It's not important what you say as long as you say something!" This sentiment will ring loud and true with YAs. During adolescence, it's Geoff's turn to be the outsider–yet he does this voluntarily, head swarming with questions about what to do with his life and the suspicion that there could be more to it than spawning and death. Henry achieves his hope of fitting in, but Geoff (and Sacks) might ask him, At what cost? The final images of the herd dying happily while Geoff floats off to explore all the diversity of life in the ocean will stick with teens and make them think. Sacks's art is lovely and simple, his art direction masterful. Two large panels per page, curved at the corners and rendered in modulating shades of blue, give the novel a feel of continuous, flowing movement, echoing the salmons' long journey towards their spawning point. A quirky and refreshing addition.–Emily Lloyd, formerly at Rehoboth Beach Public Library, DE
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Alternative Comics (July 20, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1891867717
• ISBN-13: 978-1891867712
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,439,131 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Parable on the importance of individualism, December 4, 2009

By 

Julian Jaynes (United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Salmon Doubts (Paperback)

Salmon Doubts is a powerful tale about the importance of doing your own thing. It follows two fish in a school of Salmon - Geoff and Henry - as they proceed from eggs through adulthood. Geoff, the confident explorer, serves as a foil to timid Henry. I don't want to reveal too much of the plot, but by the end of the book the salmon will have undergone not only a physical and temporal journey, but a psychological transformation as well. I'm glad that I was able to find a comic book with this level of depth and intuition into human nature - it has proved to be a wonderful book to read and discuss with my children.

5.0 out of 5 stars Salmon Doubts, May 9, 2011

By 

evan - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Salmon Doubts (Paperback)

Great book!!! it was a little too simple to read, it could have been way better but i love it still the same