Reviews
Nick Drnaso's Beverly captures such a recognizable, raw feeling of the "now" that if it was a film Drnaso would be heralded as a "stunning new directorial voice." If it was a novel, he would be a "literary sensation." But Beverly 's chilled windowpane views into the fogged American psyche are not cartoon copies of film or literature. They're something completely new. A debut book by a young writer-artist who has not only absorbed but also advanced beyond the comics which have preceded him, Beverly is the finest and most electrically complex graphic novel I've read in years, announcing an intelligent, shrewd and disquieting talent not only to comics, but also to writing and visual art. It will set its barbs in you and not let go., Nick's precise drawings and unsettling stories present a world felt and filtered through a very particular (and palpable) consciousness, but not an ego, our world seen through alien, but not unsympathetic, eyes. It's impossible to predict what will happen from page to page, as narratives connect subtly and themes emerge slowly, but each re-reading bears new and satisfying surprises., "Nick Drnaso's Beverly captures such a recognizable, raw feeling of the "now" that if it was a film Drnaso would be heralded as a "stunning new directorial voice." If it was a novel, he would be a "literary sensation." But Beverly 's chilled windowpane views into the fogged American psyche are not cartoon copies of film or literature. They're something completely new. A debut book by a young writer-artist who has not only absorbed but also advanced beyond the comics which have preceded him, Beverly is the finest and most electrically complex graphic novel I've read in years, announcing an intelligent, shrewd and disquieting talent not only to comics, but also to writing and visual art. It will set its barbs in you and not let go." --Chris Ware, author of Building Stories "Nick's precise drawings and unsettling stories present a world felt and filtered through a very particular (and palpable) consciousness, but not an ego, our world seen through alien, but not unsympathetic, eyes. It's impossible to predict what will happen from page to page, as narratives connect subtly and themes emerge slowly, but each re-reading bears new and satisfying surprises." --Ivan Brunetti, author of Aesthetics, a Memoir "... uncomfortable, fascinating ... I read it in big enthusiastic gulps..."--Dan Kois, Slate "...a suite of interlinked stories about blinkered, confused suburban youths, stranded somewhere in 1990s middle America."--Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail "Drnaso's stories and characters, and perhaps his view of the world are ... achingly realistic, and all too familiar."--Janet Potter, The Chicago Reader " The combination of the repression and uncertainty the characters feel is echoed in the numerous panels that are wholly devoid of people, showing just places but no life. Beverly is an accomplished graphic novel, and is highly recommended." - The Quietus, "Nick Drnaso's Beverly captures such a recognizable, raw feeling of the "now" that if it was a film Drnaso would be heralded as a "stunning new directorial voice." If it was a novel, he would be a "literary sensation." But Beverly 's chilled windowpane views into the fogged American psyche are not cartoon copies of film or literature. They're something completely new. A debut book by a young writer-artist who has not only absorbed but also advanced beyond the comics which have preceded him, Beverly is the finest and most electrically complex graphic novel I've read in years, announcing an intelligent, shrewd and disquieting talent not only to comics, but also to writing and visual art. It will set its barbs in you and not let go." -- Chris Ware, author of Building Stories "Nick's precise drawings and unsettling stories present a world felt and filtered through a very particular (and palpable) consciousness, but not an ego, our world seen through alien, but not unsympathetic, eyes. It's impossible to predict what will happen from page to page, as narratives connect subtly and themes emerge slowly, but each re-reading bears new and satisfying surprises." -- Ivan Brunetti, author of Aesthetics, a Memoir, "Nick Drnaso's Beverly captures such a recognizable, raw feeling of the "now" that if it was a film Drnaso would be heralded as a "stunning new directorial voice." If it was a novel, he would be a "literary sensation." But Beverly 's chilled windowpane views into the fogged American psyche are not cartoon copies of film or literature. They're something completely new. A debut book by a young writer-artist who has not only absorbed but also advanced beyond the comics which have preceded him, Beverly is the finest and most electrically complex graphic novel I've read in years, announcing an intelligent, shrewd and disquieting talent not only to comics, but also to writing and visual art. It will set its barbs in you and not let go." --Chris Ware, author of Building Stories "Nick's precise drawings and unsettling stories present a world felt and filtered through a very particular (and palpable) consciousness, but not an ego, our world seen through alien, but not unsympathetic, eyes. It's impossible to predict what will happen from page to page, as narratives connect subtly and themes emerge slowly, but each re-reading bears new and satisfying surprises." --Ivan Brunetti, author of Aesthetics, a Memoir "... uncomfortable, fascinating ... I read it in big enthusiastic gulps..."--Dan Kois, Slate "...a suite of interlinked stories about blinkered, confused suburban youths, stranded somewhere in 1990s middle America."--Sean Rogers, The Globe and Mail "Drnaso's stories and characters, and perhaps his view of the world are ... achingly realistic, and all too familiar."--Janet Potter, The Chicago Reader "Nick Drnaso's Beverly ... is a brilliant set of six intertwined stories that show the underside of suburban life."--Carla Sinclair, Boingboing.net
