Talking Lines [Hardcover]

R. O. Blechman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 15, 2009

A collection of graphic narratives from one of the most influential and respected visual artists of the past half century

Talking Lines is the first-ever comprehensive collection of the work of R. O. Blechman, one of the most prolific and influential visual artists of the twentieth century. His graphic stories are at once jocular, wry, and profound. Blechman ruminates on such various topics as nuclear weapons, war, wiretapping, Christopher Columbus, Leo Tolstoy, William Shakespeare, and Virginia Woolf. His stories have appeared in the seminal magazine Humbug (edited by Harvey Kurtzman), The Nation, Nozone (edited by his son, Nicholas Blechman), The New York Times, and The New York Times Book Review.

Blechman is a modern master of all things visual whose timeless intellect and stripped-down artistry propels his nonstop relevancy. He is one of the few artists who has been able to balance the commercial and the artistic. In his polished and unparalleled career, he has been heralded as one of the great cartoonists, the author of one of the first modern graphic novels, an Emmy and Cannes Film Festival award-winning animator with a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, a Hall of Fame art director, and even a blogger for The Huffington Post.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Whether appearing in Harvey Kurtzman's short-lived comic magazine Humbug in the late 1950s, or the New York Times Book Review in 2004, Blechman's graphic stories are remarkably consistent. His simple yet sophisticated style is inimitable and instantly recognizable: jittery lines, barely sketched-out settings and deadpan sensibility. Blechman's characters are frequently clueless sorts, hurling ridiculous actions into the winds of the time and being judged harshly for it by their creator. His sense of the satiric crops up frequently, and it is rarely applied with much subtlety. With the exception of Contamination, a longer piece from 1964 about the nuclear arms race, most of Blechman's political work falls flat. His stories about famous literary figures range from the meaningful (Virginia Woolf as utterly dependent on her husband) to playfully absurd (Shakespeare as potential advertising copy writer). Though an uneven collection over all, the scale comes down in Blechman's favor due to the inclusion of Georgie, which takes up the bulk of the book's second half. A previously unpublished piece from 1992 about a man who loses just about everything in life but for his exceptional dog, it's somehow wholly sentimental and yet astonishingly wise in its sprawling sadness. (Sept.)
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Review

“An immensely rich talent . . . His qualities of taste and intelligence, and—most vital—his instincts never to stray into forms that will betray him, have allowed Blechman to express himself in a variety of ways that have enhanced the quality of American life.” —MAURICE SENDAK

“I have always believed that humor—particularly political satire—is one of the most effective ways to make a point. And R. O. Blechman is a master of the form.” —ARIANNA HUFFINGTON

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly; First edition (September 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1897299850
• ISBN-13: 978-1897299852
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.9 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,373,181 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!, January 19, 2010

By 

Vivek Tejuja "vivekian" (mumbai, maharashtra, india) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Talking Lines (Hardcover)

I have always loved reading graphic novels, though they are more of comic books than anything else. I love the way a story is told through pictures and how it is written keeping the audience in mind. I chanced on Mr. Blechman's site and requested him to send me some of his works and voila here I was reading, "Talking Lines" - a collection of his short stories and they are brilliant!

The stories collected in this edition are anything but children's stories. Like Mr Blechman states at the beginning of a story, "I prefer my art to make a statement" and that's what his art does - it make several statements. Right from The Iraq War to Nuclear Warfare to Leonard Woolf's sacrifice to Shakespeare's imaginary sister, he touches on almost every subject that he has a comic to express with.

All I can say that the characters from these stories - the black and white lines drawn with ink will always remain with me. A treasure trove for anyone who wants to read a great graphic story series and re-read it for time to come. I know I will.