''City of Glass: The Graphic Novel'', by

Paul Karasik Paul Karasik ( ; born 1956)Kartalopoulos, Bill''Indy'' magazine (Spring 2004). is an American cartoonist, editor, and teacher, notable for his contributions to such works as ''City of Glass: The Graphic Novel'', ''The Ride Together: A Memoir of A ...

and

David Mazzucchelli David John Mazzucchelli (; born September 21, 1960) is an American comics artist and writer, known for his work on seminal superhero comic book storylines '' Daredevil: Born Again'' and '' Batman: Year One'', as well as for graphic novels in other ...

, is a comics adaptation of American author

Paul Auster Paul Benjamin Auster (born February 3, 1947) is an American writer and film director. His notable works include ''The New York Trilogy'' (1987), ''Moon Palace'' (1989), ''The Music of Chance'' (1990), ''The Book of Illusions'' (2002), ''The Broo ...

novella A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...

'' City of Glass''.

Publication history

The original comic was published by

Avon Books Avon Publications is one of the leading publishers of romance fiction. At Avon's initial stages, it was an American paperback book and comic book publisher. The shift in content occurred in the early 1970s with multiple Avon romance titles reach ...

as ''Neon Lit: Paul Auster's City of Glass (a Graphic Mystery)''. The project was led by influential and popular comics artist

Art Spiegelman Art Spiegelman (; born Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman on February 15, 1948) is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazines ''Arcade (comics maga ...

.Kartalopoulos, Bill. "Coffee with Paul Karasik," ''Indy'' magazine (Spring 2004)
Archived at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
Accessed Jan. 1, 2017. The original printing was well-received, and the work was chosen as one of "The Top 100 English-Language Comics of the Century". Nonetheless, the book quickly fell out of print. In 2004, a new edition of the book was released as ''City of Glass: The Graphic Novel'', which featured an introduction by Spiegelman. In this introduction, Spiegelman called the graphic novel "a breakthrough work." Since then, the book has been translated numerous times, with 20 foreign editions.

Plot

The story follows a man named Daniel Quinn. One night, he receives a call meant for a

private detective A private investigator (often abbreviated to PI and informally called a private eye), a private detective, or inquiry agent is a person who can be hired by individuals or groups to undertake investigatory law services. Private investigators of ...

(strangely enough named

, the same name as the author of the story). Quinn is intrigued by the phone call, and takes the case. His employers end up being a man, named Peter Stillman, and his wife. Through the course of the narrative, Quinn discovers some surprising things about

identity Identity may refer to: * Identity document * Identity (philosophy) * Identity (social science) * Identity (mathematics) Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Identity'' (1987 film), an Iranian film * ''Identity'' (2003 film), ...

language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...

, and

human nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

. He also ends up meeting, not the unseen detective Paul Auster, but writer Paul Auster. In one section of Paul Auster's original novella, Peter Stillman delivers a long, somewhat disjointed speech about his life and the job that he has for Daniel Quinn. In the comic adaptation, the interplay between words and pictures is particularly interesting, with the

word balloons Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a charac ...

coming less often from Stillman and more often from inkwells, storm drains, and even cave paintings. Spiegelman was particularly impressed with this section of the book, noting how well it translated Auster's description of Stillman's speech patterns.

Exhibitions

In March 2009, the ''City of Glass'' adaptation was given exhibition treatment, including Karasik's original layouts and Mazzucchelli's original art, as part of a Paul Auster celebration at the Dedica Literary Festival in

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. ...

, Italy."PAUL KARASIK AT SACI,"
Studio Arts College International website (Mar. 6, 2009).

References

Notes

Sources

* Bernard, Tom
"''City of Glass: The Graphic Novel'' by Paul Auster,"
BookSlut (January 2005). * Brayshaw, Christopher. "Lines and Shadows: ''Paul Auster's City of Glass''," ''The Comics Journal'' #173 (December 1994), pp. 51–54.

External links

— special issue of ''Indy'' magazine with three articles dedicated to ''City of Glass'' rchived at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
video of Paul Karasik visiting the ''City of Glass'' exhibit in Pordenone, Italy, in March 2009
{{David Mazzucchelli American graphic novels Comics based on novels 1994 comics debuts 1994 graphic novels