Items related to A Few Perfect Hours ... and Other Stories from Southeast...
Synopsis
Autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, the former Yugoslavia, and New York City. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson on a volunteer expedition to an organic farm in Malaysia, their stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpacker's conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux. In the collection's title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monk's blessing. In "On a Mission," Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And in "Cremations, Cubicles & Cant," Neufeld juxtaposes his grandmother's Jewish funeral with a Hindu cremation ceremony he witnessed on Bali.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
About the Author
Josh Neufeld's real-life stories about his travel experiences appear in The Vagabonds and Keyhole. With writer R. Walker, he co-created Titans of Finance; True Tales of Money & Business, which premiered to wide notice from the mainstream business press. Josh is a 2004 Xeric Foundation grant recipient. He has been a long-time artist for Harvey Pekar's American Splendor and has contributed to anthologies such as SPX/The EXPO, StripBurger, World War 3 Illustrated, The Big Book of Urban Legends, and Duplex Planet Illustrated. His comics have also appeared in Fortune Small Business, mMode, The Village Voice, The Chicago Reader, and In These Times, as well as many other venues. Neufeld lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife.
From the Back Cover
"The travel book has a tradition both grand and frivolous. It's a literary form that continues to welcome the embellishments of illustration long after fiction has expunged them, whether through photographs or the author's own sketches of the sights seen. It has always looked to me, therefore, like a waiting challenge for the so-called comic book, if only comic book artists were more adventurous, daring to get out into the big, strange, and wonderful -- and sometimes dangerous -- world and bring back their observations. Josh Neufeld does it for us here so that we may vicariously know about the Cave of Fear in the Thai jungle, having your bags searched by Serbian police in the unhappy year of 1993, and the astonishing cremation ceremony of an 'important man from Ubud.' A Few Perfect Hours is a worthy addition to the growing list of serious comic books that have made the form a significant cultural event of our times."
-- Eddie Campbell (Alec, Bacchus, From Hell)
From the Inside Flap
"I really dig A Few Perfect Hours. Neufeld doesn't just list the names and geographical features of the countries he's seen, he involves us in the lives of people he meets on the road, as well as his own and his traveling companion, Sari. Emotionally gripping."
-- Harvey Pekar (American Splendor)
"A wonderful and realistic journal of adventure travel by a talented and observant cartoonist."
-- Jeff Smith (Bone)
Reviews
Neufeld and his girlfriend, Sari, have traveled all over the world, and like all travelers, they've come back with stories. Unlike most travelers, though, Neufeld makes a point of trying to understand what these stories mean, why he reacts to his experiences the way he does and what results from the friction between his own culture and the cultures where he's a tourist. That comes to a head in this work's final tale, "Cremations, Cubicles & Cant," in which Neufeld considers the death and funeral of his grandmother in the context of his travels, and the significance of funeral rites within and outside her community. In another story, Neufeld tries to imagine his uneasy interaction with a Serbian ice cream salesman from the other man's perspective. The book's highlight is "The Cave of Fear," a story about a day trip in Thailand. Neufeld is drawn to the trip's potential for danger, and what might ordinarily be a merely entertaining anecdote becomes the occasion for lucid, unsparing self-examination. Neufeld draws himself as a slightly neurotic caricature, and his backgrounds show how salient details can be reduced to a few clear lines. He has an appealingly clean visual style and uses it to highlight the differences between his tourist self and his surroundings.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Travel sometimes figures in other autobiographical comics, but Neufeld, with a few written contributions by his companion, Sari Wilson, here pioneers the travel book in comics. In the early 1990s, when he and Wilson were in their mid-twenties, they backpacked in Southeast Asia and later, during a year in Prague, in Central Europe. Although Neufeld offers some illustrated "travel tips"--on such nitty-gritty topics as "Bathing in the Tropics" and "Gynecology on the Go" (a Wilson piece)--the book is far more valuable as a memoir than for its tourist information. Unencumbered by group-travel agendas and timetables, the couple had genuine adventures. They spelunked, dangerously, and overnighted with Baptist missionaries (Neufeld and Wilson are very secular Jews) in Thailand; farm-labored for an evening in Malaysia; were extras in a Singapore TV show; and served as English-practice-givers for an ice-cream man on a hot train laid over in Belgrade. Neufeld's comics style is straightforwardly presentational, with few odd angles and broad variation in the amount of detail rendered, which seems perfect for this material. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Search results for A Few Perfect Hours ... and Other Stories from Southeast...
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours: and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: World of Books (was SecondSale), Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). With gentle humor and a keen eye for revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. From the creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller The Influencing Machine: Brook Gladstone On the Media. In A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe), autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, Singapore, and the former Yugoslavia. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson's stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpacker's conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux. In the collection's title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monk's blessing. In On a Mission, Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And the book's longest story, Cremations, Cubicles, and Cant, is a brand-new 20-page tale about the death of Neufeld's grandmother, which contrasts her Jewish funeral service with a Balinese cremation ceremony; it forms the emotional heart of the book. Evoking both Tintin-creator Herg and comics journalist Joe Sacco, Neufeld's stories operate on a very human level, and his art reflects that with its careful depictions of people from different cultures and backgrounds. iComics] Throughout the collection, Neufeld uses the comics form to experiment with narrative and point-of-view. The themes and conventions of the eight stories in A Few Perfect Hours will resonate with readers both within and outside the comics world. Comics Worth Reading observes that Neufeld's comics provide a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of travelling -- to experience and come to terms with the unknown. Seller Inventory # 00097852860
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours . and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: Half Price Books Inc., Dallas, TX, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Very Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority! Seller Inventory # S_466497500
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours: And Other Stories from Southeast Asia & Central Europe
Seller: ThriftBooks-Atlanta, AUSTELL, GA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1891867792I4N00
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours: and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
Seller rating 4 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). With gentle humor and a keen eye for revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. From the creator of A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge and the illustrator of the New York Times bestseller The Influencing Machine: Brook Gladstone On the Media. In A Few Perfect Hours (and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe), autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes us on a dramatic tour of places as exotic and different as Thailand, Singapore, and the former Yugoslavia. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson's stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpacker's conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux. In the collection's title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monk's blessing. In On a Mission, Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And the book's longest story, Cremations, Cubicles, and Cant, is a brand-new 20-page tale about the death of Neufeld's grandmother, which contrasts her Jewish funeral service with a Balinese cremation ceremony; it forms the emotional heart of the book. Evoking both Tintin-creator Herg and comics journalist Joe Sacco, Neufeld's stories operate on a very human level, and his art reflects that with its careful depictions of people from different cultures and backgrounds. iComics] Throughout the collection, Neufeld uses the comics form to experiment with narrative and point-of-view. The themes and conventions of the eight stories in A Few Perfect Hours will resonate with readers both within and outside the comics world. Comics Worth Reading observes that Neufeld's comics provide a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of travelling -- to experience and come to terms with the unknown. Seller Inventory # CIN1891867792G
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours . and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: Chris Korczak, Bookseller, IOBA, Easthampton, MA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Very Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). Very minimal shelfwear (near fine). I note every flaw I find, so buy with confidence. Seller Inventory # mon0000149128
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours And Other Stories From Southeast Asia And Central Europe
Seller: Sell Books, Elland, YORKS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
paperback. Condition: Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). Our good condition books are generally good for reading but not for gifting or collecting. They could have imperfections such as creasing, fanning, inscriptions, margin notes, yellowing, staining on edge or cover or pages, bumps, scuffs, etc etc (sometimes multiple of these). It's a wide category that encompasses anything that isn't almost-new down to anything that is slightly better than poor. We would NOT recommend gifting Good books - these should be considered reading copies. Our books are dispatched from a Yorkshire former cotton mill. We list via barcode/ISBN so please note that the images are stock images and may not be the exact copy you receive, furthermore the details about edition and year might not be accurate as many publishers reuse the same ISBN for multiple editions and as we simply scan a barcode or enter an ISBN we do not check the validity of the edition data when listing. If you're looking for an exact edition please don't order (at least not without checking with us first, although we don't always have time to check). We aim to dispatch prompty, the service used will depend on order value and book size. We can ship to most countries, see our shipping policies. Payment is via Abe only. Seller Inventory # SBAB-L-BIR00527-MIX-20230901-G
Buy Used
US$ 19.61
US$ 10.36 shipping
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours . and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: WorldofBooks, Goring-By-Sea, WS, United Kingdom
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: Very Good. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR010718707
Buy Used
US$ 22.53
US$ 7.48 shipping
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Ships from United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Quantity: 1 available
Stock Image
A Few Perfect Hours . and Other Stories from Southeast Asia and Central Europe
Seller: BennettBooksLtd, Los Angeles, CA, U.S.A.
Seller rating 5 out of 5 stars
Paperback. Condition: New. Josh Neufeld (illustrator). In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! Seller Inventory # Q-1891867792