A fun, amusing fantasy about an important year in two icons’ lives.
A graphic biography of the intersection of Einstein and Kafka in Prague during 1911-1912, a fertile period for both men.
Writer and cartoonist Krimstein, author of The Three Escapes of Hannah Arendt, When I Grow Up, and Kvetch as Kvetch Can, engagingly chronicles a significant time period for both cultural giants. When the year began, neither Einstein nor Kafka was the legendary figure he would become. As the author writes, Einstein was “a financially strapped 32-year-old father of three who’s had to drag his family here to double his salary, save his marriage, and, most important, to salvage his foundering scientific legacy.” Meanwhile, Kafka was “far from the cockroach-crowned, hooded-eyed ‘prophet of modern literature’ whose very name has become a byword for mechanized ennui and the robotic futility of modern life.” In Prague, Einstein began to understand that treating space as simple emptiness didn’t work, but allowing it physical qualities, such as the ability to bend and twist, opened up dazzling possibilities—although this theory required that time become a dimension as real as length, height, and depth. All this made matters vastly more complicated—the mathematics were daunting, and a mathematician friend later helped him with the equations—so he considered this period as extraordinarily stressful. Readers looking for an explanation of relativity should consult Krimstein’s superb, opinionated bibliography; the lively timeline is also helpful. Euclid makes an appearance to denounce adding a dimension to his immortal three. Kafka does not receive as much attention as Einstein, but mostly lurks about wondering if he and Einstein are simpatico. Perhaps to introduce conflict, Krimstein gives a prominent role to Max Abraham, a rare contemporary who rejected relativity. In reality, almost every physicist who read his papers thought he was on to something.
A fun, amusing fantasy about an important year in two icons’ lives.Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2024
ISBN: 9781635579536
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An impassioned message of rage and hope.
The author of Persepolis returns with a collection about burgeoning activism in Iran.
In September 2022, the beating and death of Mahsa Jina Amini, an Iranian student arrested for not wearing her headscarf properly, incited a solidarity movement among women and men that spread around the world. To publicize and bear witness to this major uprising, Satrapi has gathered stories, cartoons, and essays from more than 20 artists, activists, journalists, and academics. The author has two aims: “to explain what’s going on in Iran, to decipher events in all their complexity and nuance for a non-Iranian readership, and to help you understand them as fully as possible”; and “to remind Iranians that they are not alone.” Setting the movement in context, Iranian American historian Abbas Milani offers an overview of the political upheavals and revolutions that have led to the current misogynist, repressive regime and the “resolute defiance” that has emerged in protest. As each contributor attests, life under a wrathful dictatorship is consistently frightening and dangerous: “The Islamic Republic ensures its own survival by murdering people. During the successive demonstrations” over Amini’s murder, “several hundred people were killed in an attempt to strike fear into the hearts of protesters. Young people were forced to confess under torture.” Women are especially vulnerable. Since November 2022, young students in schools across Iran have been poisoned by toxic gas as part of an attempt to force girls’ schools to close. Protecting the regime falls to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a paramilitary organization that answers directly to Khomeini, the Supreme Leader, and for the past four decades has carried out a reign of terror. This collection pays homage to victims and celebrates the dreams of Iran’s determined activists. Other contributors include Joanne Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, Paco Roca, and Mana Neyestani.
An impassioned message of rage and hope.Pub Date: March 19, 2024
ISBN: 9781644214053
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Seven Stories
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
IN THE NEWS
A delightful exploration of navigating the bumpy road to adulthood.
A story of a long-overdue Sapphic coming-of-age.
Through an autobiographical graphic narrative that is at times hysterically funny and at times gut-wrenching, readers follow Mieri, a young Japanese woman living in the U.S. From the lesbian characters in anime that she crushed on to the first real girl Mieri was attracted to, she’s known for a while that she likes butch girls. The fact that she sees fewer butch x butch relationships won’t stop her from trying to find a girlfriend even though the path, in person and on dating apps, is fraught with challenges. After she goes to visit her grandparents, Mieri meets Ash, a White American teaching English in Japan who becomes her first girlfriend. It starts out great: College sophomore Mieri experiences the stress and rewards of making the first move and even has her first kiss. But a month later, Ash breaks up with her, Mieri’s parents get divorced, and her grandparents learn about and aren’t cool with her sexuality. Worst of all, she can’t stop thinking about Ash. As Mieri navigates the aftershocks of the breakup, she also grows into maturity. The book has impeccable pacing and is engaging from start to finish. The humorous art enhances the narrative in a meaningful way, especially in portraying Mieri’s own emotional journey.
A delightful exploration of navigating the bumpy road to adulthood. (extra panels, author’s note, creating a manga, Q&A, bonus gallery) (Manga. 14-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2023
ISBN: 9781974736591
Page Count: 208
Publisher: VIZ Media
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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