Happy (American) Thanksgiving

Congratulations to Adrian, on Shortcomings being one of the 100 Notable Books of the Year selected by The New York Times Book Review.

Tomine in Berkeley Tonight

Tonight is the last stop on Adrian's book tour, well, at least until his art opening at GRNY on December 8th. At Cody's in Berkeley at 7 PM, Julia Cosgrove of ReadyMade asks the questions. I would imagine that some of the questions will focus on the East Bay settings in the book, the Oakland Tribune picks up yesterday's San Jose Mercury story in anticipation. Also on the West Coast, Adrian makes the cover of the LA City Beat's Books issue and up in Calgary, the Fast Forward Weekly also has an interview.

Bay Area Welcomes Home Adrian!

Adrian winds up his ten-city tour with an event tonight at 7 PM in San Francisco at Booksmith with Glen David Gold (Carter Beats the Devil) and tomorrow night at 7 PM in Berkeley at Cody's with Julia Cosgrove (of ReadyMade). Last week, the San Francisco Chronicle featured a review of Shortcomings, the San Francisco Bay Guardian reviewed the book and spotlights the event, and today the San Jose Mercury News features an interview with Adrian with an emphasis on the East Bay locations in the book. Don't miss these events!

Amazon Shows Adrian More Love...

"On the first Monday of every month we reveal The Significant Seven: the new titles chosen by our editors as the must-read books of the season."

Seattle Readers!

It's your one and only opportunity to see Adrian's slide show he put together for the Shortcomings book tour, followed with a Q+A by Eric Reynolds of the "competition"--it all goes down tonight at the University Bookstore.

Seattlest has a Q+A with Adrian in advance of the event.

Here are two photos from last week's Philadelphia event at the Free Library that reader Jamie Png sent it!

Shortcomings in the New York Times Book Review

"[Tomine] is an expert at hooking the reader without tricks or obvious effort, and you’ll be tempted to buzz through “Shortcomings” in an hour. But you’ll want to slow down to take in the detailed black-and-white panels that casually document the way we live now...Tomine isn’t given to flights of surrealism, rude jests or grotesque images. He is a mild observer, an invisible reporter, a scientist of the heart. His drawing style is plain and exact. The dialogue appearing inside his cartoon balloons is pitch-perfect and succinct. He’s daring in his restraint."
–Jim Windolf, The New York Times Book Review

Adrian in the Pacific NW: Portland, Seattle and Vancouver

The Shortcomings reports haven't stopped rolling in from Chicago yet, and they're already pouring in from the NW. Check out the Chicago New City and the Chicago Reader as they both picked last night's event at Quimby's as not to miss. Here's a slew of interviews for Adrian's upcoming appearances: The Willamette Weekly interviews Adrian in advance of his Wordstock event sponsored by Powells on Saturday, the Seattle Times picks up comics chronicler Chris Mautner's Q+A off the wire to prep for Adrian's event at University Books in Seattle on Monday and the Georgia Straight catches a few minutes with Adrian for his Tuesday event in Vancouver at Sophia Books. Also, the Seattle Weekly reviewed Shortcomings in its Fall preview a few weeks ago. And heck while I am at it, and since I am the publicist, let's just point out this Daily Michigan interview that ran before Adrian's SRO event at Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor on Wednesday and this write up in the Philadelphia Weekly.

Note: Adrian will be presenting his slide show in Portland and yes, now, due to popular demand in Seattle! Though our pal Eric Reynolds will still be asking the tough questions on Monday, as Kevin Chong (author of Baroque-a-Nova, Neil Young Nation) undoubtedly will in Vancouver on Tuesday.

Shortcomings Makes Amazon's Best of 2007

Amazon has released their Best of 2007 lists, and Shortcomings comes in at #5 on their comics and graphic novel list! They have the book on sale for a great price too...

This Week: Adrian Tomine in Philadelphia, Ann Arbor, Chicago and Portland

The Shortcomings tour is officially in full swing. On Tuesday at the Free Library in Philadelphia, Wednesday at Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor, and Saturday at Wordstock in Portland, Adrian will present a slide show, which I have been privy to, and I swear (not as his publicist!) don't miss it! On Thursday at Quimby's in Chicago, Adrian will be interviewed by Irma Nunez of the Chicago Reader, who we met in Summer 2007 in L.A., when she interviewed Yoshihiro Tatsumi for the Japan Times. Next week, Adrian hits Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco and Berkeley, all information can be found here.

This is Adrian's first time in Philadelphia and Ann Arbor, and people are talking, check out what they are saying in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia City Paper, the Ann Arbor News as well as two reviews in Time Out Chicago and the Portland Mercury.

Attn L.A.: Shortcomings Originals in Giant Robot Biennale

Congratulations to one of our favorite magazines, Giant Robot, for making it to Issue #50! In celebration of this anniversary, Eric Nakamura has curated a show up at the Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles. If you are lucky enough to get over there, you'll see over 10 pages of original Shortcomings art, as well as the cover by Adrian Tomine to the New Yorker. Eric Nakamura has posted some photos from the show on flickr, which I have swiped above.

Also, if you live in NYC, Adrian will be having an art show at GRNY opening on December 8th. Mark your calendar.

Adrian Tomine in L.A. this Saturday

Don't miss Adrian in Los Angeles as one of our favorite retailers, Skylight Books celebrates their 11th Anniversary party. Bill Smith, formerly of the LA Weekly, will be asking the questions.

ADRIAN TOMINE AT SKYLIGHT BOOKS
Q+A and Signing
Saturday, November 3rd 2007 5:00 PM
SKYLIGHT BOOKS (1818 N. Vermont Ave LA, CA 90027)

Also, we are asking all readers who attend the various stops on the tour to send in your blog reports and photos, we'll link to and post the most memorable. Email opticnervenews@drawnandquarterly.com!

Can't Make Adrian's Tour?

Don't live in L.A., Philly, Ann Arbor, Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco, Berkeley or NYC? Don't worry, the continent's best all-comics radio show Inkstuds interviewed Adrian Tomine yesterday and have posted the podcast. Before the interview they asked Adrian for a playlist and he requested: "I'm Satisfied" by Mississippi John Hurt, "Backlash Blues" by Nina Simone, "Baby Stones" by Robert Forster, and "My 1st Song" by Jay-Z.