Jamilti and Other Stories - Hardcover

Modan, Rutu

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1897299540 ISBN 13: 9781897299548

Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly Pubns, 2008

Synopsis

Collects short works by the creator of Exit Wounds, depicting such characters as an infatuated plastic surgeon, a mother who returns from the dead with dubious healing powers, and a young couple whose lives are disrupted by a suicide bombing.

About this title

About the Author

RUTU MODAN, one of Israel's best-known cartoonists, was born in Tel Aviv in 1966. She is most recognized in North America for her graphic novel Exit Wounds, and currently lives in England with her family.

Reviews

Grade 10 Up—Modan's graphic novel Exit Wounds (Drawn & Quarterly, 2007) was set in Israel. This title is a collection of seven short stories that were written earlier and are set in various times and places. Subjects range from political violence to personal moments and fantastical interludes. One story involves a rock star who travels to England believing that he is going to get a boost in his career. Well written and surprising, "Jamilti" features a Palestinian fighter and a nurse. The volume contains both color and black-and-white art. In contrast to the author's later work, the character representations here are less refined and often have exaggerated features and expressions that help to illustrate Modan's narrative points. The backgrounds also tend to be less detailed, which helps to draw readers' eyes back to the characters and their emotions.—Kelliann Bogan, Colby-Sawyer College, New London, NH
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Israeli sequential artist Modan proves herself as nimble with the short story as she has been with the full-length graphic novel (Exit Wounds, 2007). The seven tales collected here are each nicely developed, with flat, blocky characters differentiated by such homely features as freckles, shaggy hair, and high cheekbones. Their personalities are further realized in the text. Plots range from the politically charged title piece, in which a dying Palestinian utters an endearment to an Israeli nurse, to the slightly ribald tale of three “sisters” living in a theme hotel in which guests may play out their fantasies in storybook-appointed quarters, to the disappointing trip to England undertaken by a would-be rock star who finds he’s been hired to play at a Jewish social center catering to families and distinctly off the paparazzi path. Themes of deceit and recreating one’s own or a beloved’s image are repeated, but nothing else about these stories is repetitive. An ideal book for adult groups who want to discuss the power of the short story. --Francisca Goldsmith

Edition details

• Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly Pubns
• Publication date: 2008
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1897299540
• ISBN 13: 9781897299548
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 174