Empire State: A Love Story (or Not) - Hardcover

Shiga, Jason

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0810997479 ISBN 13: 9780810997479

Publisher: Harry N. Abrams, 2011

Synopsis

Jimmy is a stereotypical geek who works at the library in Oakland, California, and is trapped in his own torpidity. Sara is his best friend, but she wants to get a life (translation: an apartment in Brooklyn and a publishing internship). When Sara moves to New York City, Jimmy is rattled. Then lonely. Then desperate. He screws up his courage, writes Sara a letter about his true feelings, and asks her to meet him at the top of the Empire State Building (a nod to their ongoing debate about Sleepless in Seattle). 

Jimmy's cross-country bus trip to Manhattan is as hapless and funny as Jimmy himself. When he arrives in the city he's thought of as "a festering hellhole," he's surprised by how exciting he finds New York, and how heartbreaking—he discovers Sara has a boyfriend! 

Jason Shiga's bold visual storytelling, sly pokes at popular culture, and subtle text work together seamlessly in Empire State, creating a quirky graphic novel comedy about the vagaries of love and friendship.
Praise for Empire State:

"He [Shiga] displays a wicked sense of comic timing." 
-Publishers Weekly 

"Empire State: A Love Story (Or Not) is funny, sweet, geeky and affecting, and definitely worth a read." 
-Wired.com 

"Shiga's illustrations . . . are unique and endearing, and his images of NYC are instantly recognizable."
 -am New York 

"If Woody Allen grew up in Oakland rather than Manhattan, he'd most likely see the world, and especially New York City, as Jason Shiga does in Empire State." -Big Think.com

About this title

About the Author

Jason Shiga is the creator of the bestselling graphic novel Meanwhile. Shiga won the 2003 Eisner Award for Talent Deserving of Wider Recognition. He lives in Oakland, California.

From Publishers Weekly

Jimmy's first crush/best friend Sara has moved to New York to encounter the wider world. So Jimmy, a socially awkward man-child who likes reading hard sci-fi (the kind with rocket ships) and has no idea what a latte is, embarks on a perilous bus trip from his home in Oakland to Brooklyn to profess his love to her. He soon learns that the only thing worse than sharing a small bus with random ex-cons comparing notes on their prison experiences is crashing on a couch in a small Brooklyn apartment with Sara and her new boyfriend, Mark. Sara and Mark do their best to welcome Jimmy to the grown-up world, showing him different parts of the city and trying to broaden his limited horizons, but there's a real question as to whether their gentle coaching will take. Shiga (Meanwhile, Double Happiness) walks a fine line between sappy rom-com and maudlin love-lost tale, but largely succeeds in maintaining a balanced middle. He's aided by a crude yet geometric penciling style that draws the reader very effectively into Jimmy's point of view. He also displays a wicked sense of comic timing, which is equally effective at portraying awkward pauses and slapstick physicality. (May)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0810997479
• ISBN 13: 9780810997479
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 144