The Original Manuscripts

This is what books look like before they are sent to the publisher.

The Story Coaster

This drawing appears in the July 14 Sunday NY Times Book Review. Thanks to Book Review editor Pamela Paul! Also, thanks to my middle school English teacher, who taught me the wonderful word "dénouement."

You can order a poster at my shop.

Reading Is Dangerous

I drew this comic to illustrate the essay "Clunkers" by James McWilliams in the July 7 NY Times Sunday Book Review. The article is a hilarious musing on books as projectiles, and probably the most fun piece I've had the chance to illustrate. Thanks to ADs Rex Bonomelli and Nicholas Blechman for the gig!

When You Are Gone

This comic began as an initial sketch to illustrate an essay about the future of books. The essay offered a somewhat bleak view of the literary world to come - a publishing market controlled by devices and e-reading platforms with a dwindling readership and fewer opportunities for authors. Unfortunately, the essay was cancelled. I decided to finish the comic anyway. Maybe nostalgia for the printed word is premature and misguided, but I'll always prefer books in their traditional form.

How to Make Write

This drawing appears alongside a NYT Opinionator Draft essay by Henry Hitchings about the use of nominalization in writing. One type of nominalization is the appropriation of verbs as nouns, leading to attention-grabbing (and annoyance-inducing) phrases like the ones found in this comic. You can also see the illustration and article in print in the March 31 NYT Sunday Review. Thanks to AD Matt Dorfman for the gig!

Performance-Enhancing Drugs for Writers

I don't advocate drug use - unless it leads to great works of literature.

You can order a poster at my shop.

Story Structures

You can get a poster of this and many other fine literary comics at my Poster Shop.

Literary Consolation Prizes

You can see this comic in print in this Sunday's NY Times Book Review! Meanwhile, the finalists for the National Book Award can be found here (I'm pulling for Junot Diaz).

Ban This Book.

I drew this comic to celebrate Banned Books Week! This great op-ed by James Klise shows one author's experience with a challenge to intellectual freedom. The American Library Association has compiled a list of frequently banned and challenged books. Here are few of my favorite books from the list: 

We Are the Introverts

Want to proclaim your introversion? You can order a poster of this comic here.

Stray Books

You can pick up a poster of this comic at my shop.

Required Summer Reading

You can order a poster of this comic at my shop. 

Murakami Bingo, Translated

I coerced a friend and classmate (who wishes to remain anonymous) into translating my Murakami Bingo comic into Japanese. Big thanks to this mysterious person for her hard work! 

The translated version is also available as a poster.

Haruki Murakami Bingo

I've spent the last few years devouring the books of Haruki Murakami. Twelve novels, three short story collections, and one memoir later, I came up with this comic. If you have yet to experience the genius of Murakami, keep this Bingo card handy as you delve into his work. I recommend starting with The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, Kafka on the Shore, or Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World. You can find this comic in print in Sunday's New York Times Book Review.

Summer Night

Behind Every Great Novelist

This illustration appears in the New York Times Book Review alongside a review by Christopher Benfey of John Sutherland's "Lives of the Novelists." Sutherland's book profiles a long list of notable writers and the personal events that may or may not have influenced their creative output. I tried to distill the typical experience of a literary icon into nine small panels. I'm certain that many of our great writers have worked in a coal mine and owned a small poodle. 

Riff Illustration

I made this small illustration for the Riff column in this week's NY Times Magazine! The topic was the decision to not award a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction this year. I hewed closely (perhaps too closely) to the minimalist style set by Tom Gauld, who regularly draws for the column.

The Conspiracy of Colors

 

While browsing the unwanted books section at a local thrift store, I came across an amazing item: The Elements of Color by Johannes Itten. The book's subtitle is "A treatise on the color system of Johannes Itten based on his book The Art of Color," and the contents are full of beautiful diagrams and fascinating (if a tiny bit overblown) writing on the practice and history of color theory. It was definitely worth the $2.99 spent. I adapted some of the figures within the book for this comic. I loved the way Itten wrote of the colors as if they were living, breathing entities, with the capacity for good - or evil.

Animal Advocacy

I do not often use my drawings for political activism, but this comic is an exception. It highlights two issues I feel very strongly about.

The Book of the Future

This drawing appears in The New York Times Sunday Book Review! See it larger in the digital Times or in the print edition on newsstands today (4/1). My vision for the future involves lava lamps, egg chairs, and outfits that would look great in a B-52s music video.