Boundless

by Jillian Tamaki

Overview

APPEARED ON BEST OF THE YEAR LISTS FROM NPR, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, WASHINGTON POST, VULTURE, BOOKLIST, AND MORE

The cartoonist of This One Summer and SuperMutant Magic Academy explores the virtual and IRL world of contemporary women via a lens both surreal and wry

Jenny becomes obsessed with a strange "mirror Facebook," which presents an alternate, possibly better, version of herself. Helen finds her clothes growing baggy, her shoes looser, and as she shrinks away to nothingness, the world around her recedes as well. The animals of the city briefly open their minds to us, and we see the world as they do. A mysterious music file surfaces on the internet and forms the basis of a utopian society–or is it a cult?

Boundless is at once fantastical and realist, playfully hinting at possible transcendence: from one’s culture, one’s relationship, oneself. This collection of short stories is a showcase for the masterful blend of emotion and humour of award-winning cartoonist Jillian Tamaki.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781770462878
Publisher:	Drawn & Quarterly
Publication date:	05/30/2017
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jillian Tamaki is a cartoonist, illustrator, and educator raised in Calgary, Alberta. She is the author of the Eisner Award-winning graphic novels SuperMutant Magic Academy and Boundless, and the author-illustrator of two picture books, including most recently Our Little Kitchen. With her cousin Mariko Tamaki, she is the co-creator of the young adult graphic novels SKIM and This One Summer, which won a Governor General’s Award and Caldecott Honor. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

It's usually a slight to argue that an artist "hasn't found their voice yet"; in the case of the restlessly versatile Jillian Tamaki, it's an endorsement. Boundless collects short stories that are so far apart from one another in tone and technique that they could almost pass for the work of entirely different artists. Some of them are less narratives than brief, illustrated prose poems. If Tamaki…has a favorite storytelling strategy, it seems to be dreaming up some kind of odd artifact of mass culture and then examining the way people react to it.

The New York Times Book Review - Douglas Wolk

★ 03/13/2017
Tamaki (This One Summer, SuperMutant Magic Academy) presents the adult, oblique side of her work in this revelatory collection of short stories. These strips are playful yet pensive; in the introductory story, the narrator asks, “Do I want to look at art at 2 AM or eat a donut in the park?” Many, including “Bed Bug” and “Half-Life,” track the formation and dissolution of romantic relationships. In “Body Pods,” a young woman goes through her history of romantic partners, all fans of the titular invented sci-fi movie. A surreal, dreamlike sense of dread and sadness pervades many of these stories, but wry sympathy for the often lost characters takes Tamaki’s already formidable cartooning skills to a new level. Artistically, obsessive-looking rendering juts up against spontaneous, sparse line work, mirroring the disorientation the narrators experience. Tamaki has delivered an essential collection of truly modern fiction in comics form. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Each story is as indelible as it is singular [and] so beautifully told that after a while you begin to feel that Tamaki... is capable of almost anything. And perhaps she is."—The Guardian

"Restlessly versatile… Boundless collects short stories that are so far apart from one another in tone and technique that they could almost pass for the work of entirely different artists."—New York Times

"Boundless feels at one time wholly of this moment and otherworldly, presenting a reality that’s tilted slightly off its axis. Her evocative drawings are intimate, energetic, in moments loose and casual, in others tight and finely rendered."—Boston Globe

"Jillian Tamaki's short comics are propelled by contemporary phenomena... but such elements never seem to shackle Boundless to the present. Tamaki's existential wistfulness lifts text messages and memes into the realm of archetype [with] inventive, versatile art."—NPR Best Books of 2017

"[Jillian Tamaki] dazzles with her impressive range in this collection...Lush, vibrant, and packed with emotion."—Entertainment Weekly

"Tamaki's voice shines throughout this masterpiece... as she effortlessly blends love and pain, fantasy and reality."—Nylon

"A fantastical and surreal look at modern life, in gorgeous pencil sketch."—Glamour

"Jillian Tamaki boldly emerges as a new titan of the comics medium... The whole endeavor feels like Adrian Tomine meets Jorge Luis Borges, while also feeling like nothing we’ve seen before."—New York Magazine

"A profoundly honest, bittersweet picture of human nature, made all the more haunting by her enchanting artwork."—Booklist, Starred Review

"Revelatory... Tamaki has delivered an essential collection of truly modern fiction in comics form."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

"Jillian Tamaki seems capable of drawing anything, in any style, and making it appear effortless. Her writing could be described in the same way, and it's thrilling to see those twin skills of hers united in service of these daring, unpredictable, and quietly strange stories."—Adrian Tomine, author of Killing and Dying

"Jillian Tamaki's finely hewn tales read like transmissions from a parallel universe just as lonely as our own, but in a more beautifully felt, hilariously ephemeral way. These are precious stories, stories to fall into like an odd dream you left too soon."—Alexandra Kleeman, author of You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine

From the Publisher

★ 06/01/2017
In a collection of stories that range from ruminations on fantastical cities and the way a cult film influences the lives of a variety of young men to a Hollywood producer reflecting on the legacy of a pornographic sitcom he produced in the 1990s to the tale of a mysterious piece of music that appears on the Internet and inspires almost mystical devotion in its fans, Tamaki (SuperMutant Magic Academy) showcases her incredible skills as both illustrator and storyteller. Whether otherworldly or realistic, Tamaki's stories are filled with humor, pathos, and empathy for characters who struggle to transcend their circumstances, histories, and limitations. Tamaki seems capable of drawing in almost any style, and at times it seems that the confines of the page are unable to contain the energy and inventiveness she brings to every moment of this volume. VERDICT The stories here could easily stand alongside those in any short-story collection released in any genre this year. Adult readers who might not already know Tamaki's award-winning YA titles (This One Summer; Skim) will discover what they've been missing. [See author Q&A, p. 87.]—TB

Library Journal

01/01/2018
Could you shrink to become nothing but an idea in the air: alive, but with no body or voice? Could bedbugs ruin your life while simultaneously strengthening your marriage? What do fans of Radiohead and the author's earlier Sex Coven have in common? The answers are not supplied in these fleeting yet haunting stories told through art and spare text. Tamaki allows readers to interpret this book for themselves while slipping under the skin to scratch the icky spots many of us don't wish to see. In "1.Jenny," for instance, a woman questions the alternative and more interesting version of her life when it appears on the mirror site of Facebook. She grows uncomfortable with the dichotomy of the life she is living vs. the one 1.Jenny is posting about. Beneath each character's plight, readers can witness vulnerable versions of themselves. Tamaki's characters grapple with adult issues that demand time for reflection. VERDICT A thoughtful choice for older teens and college students who question the idea of a single linear path.—Pamela Schembri, Horace Greeley High School, Chappaqua, NY

School Library Journal