World Famous Comics: The Push Man and Other Stories
The Push Man and Other Stories
By: Yoshihiro Tatsumi Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Drawn and Quarterly Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 224 Publication Date: September 01, 2005 Release Date: September 22, 2005
A collection of short stories from the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics.
Legendary cartoonist Yoshihiro Tatsumi is the grandfather of alternative manga for the adult reader. Predating the advent of the literary graphic novel movement in the United States by thirty years, Tatsumi created a library of literary comics that draws parallels with modern prose fiction and today's alternative comics.
Designed and edited by one of today's most popular cartoonists, Adrian Tomine, The Push Man and Other Stories is the debut volume in a groundbreaking new series that collects Tatsumi's short stories about Japanese urban life. Tatsumi's stories are simultaneously haunting, disturbing, and darkly humorous, commenting on the interplay between an overwhelming, bustling, crowded modern society and the troubled emotional and sexual life of the individual.
Mind blowing short stories This book was recommended to me by Amazon having bought some of editor Tomine's comics. But while his Shortcomings is a very good comic, The Push Man and Other Stories is simply amazing. I am generally not a fan of manga or Japanese comics because I don't like the style of drawing the characters, but the artwork by Tatsumi immediately attracted me (a pleasant surprise because the "Look Inside" feature is not available for this item). But, boy, did these stories blew me away! They are amazingly daring for the time (compared to most of the European comincs of the time), they are still strikingly relevant. There is a sort of existential quality about them and I was immediately reminded of the Palm-of-the-Hand Stories by Kawabata, which I'd recommend if you like this collection. They linger in your mind and form a sort of visual poetry only the best of comics achieve. This is recognised by Fantagraphics and this edition is quite splendid with an introduction and an interview with Tatsumi as a bonus. I have a feeling I will read this collection more than once. In any case, after finishing the book, I immediately ordered Abandon the Old in Tokyo!
awesome book arrived in perfect condition, gritty- every day life subject matter that everyone likes to keep secret brought out shamelessly into the open. loves it.
Bloody'ell! Yoshihiro Tatsumi, The Push Man and Other Stories (Drawn and Quarterly, 2005)
The Push Man is the kind of thing that's going to weird you out anyway, but it will do so even more when you realize that all of the little stories collected here were actually written thirty-five years before the book's publication. To say Tatsumi was ahead of his time is, perhaps, the understatement of the year.
Because of the odd time differential, pretty much everything I could say about this book would need to be reversed, and would be less appropriate for the review. For example, Tatsumi doesn't show stylistic similarities to Charles Burns; Burns shows stylistic similarities to Tatsumi. (Either way round, it's a compliment.) Burns is an excellent point of comparison for those unfamiliar with Tatsumi; both are looking to get under society's skin and play around with the guts for a while before showing them to you like an eager-to-please six-year-old holding a dead badger out to you as a present and expecting you to exclaim with joy. Of course, the lives themselves are different-- Burns chronicles the stoner-era Pacific Northwest, while Tatsumi is looking at the sixties salaryman-- but looking at the two artists side-by-side, what's more apt to strike the reader is the universality of the darker human emotions. Pain, rage, confusion, hopelessness, and despair float through Tatsumi's characters as if they're breathing it straight from the air. Tatsumi captures these essences wonderfully. You have to wonder about the psyche of a person who's capable of defining characters so well with so few words and then doing such horrible things to them (or letting those things be done to them).
I don't think it would be terribly much of a stretch to at least hazard the hypothesis that Tatsumi's work, when it first appeared in 1969, may have been the single biggest thing to ever happen to graphic literature. Tatsumi made people sit up and say "hey, maybe this is something we should take seriously." Translations of his work into English are long overdue (except, of course, for bootlegs), and very welcome. This is great stuff. Seek it out. **** ½
"I myself am a very normal person" "I myself am a very normal person. Please do not interpret these stories as representative of the author's personality." This plea to the reader appears on the very last page of this book, and upon coming across it, most readers will probably think the disclaimer belongs at the front of the book. Because by the end of these 16 short graphic stories, which represent a "best of" anthology of Tatsumi's work from 1969 (the plan is to continue releasing a "best of" for each year), it's very hard not to suspect the author of having some major dysfunctions with both society at large, and especially with women. According to the introduction by Adrian Tomine, Tatsumi is considered "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics", and coined the term "gekiga" to distinguish naturalistic, more adult comics from the popular "manga" fare for kids. The material in this collection certainly falls into the "gekiga" category, as it encompasses very adult material. Not "adult" in the sexual sense (although there is sexual explicit material), but in the more metaphysical sense that is brought on by feelings of urban alienation
The stories are set in late '60s Japan, in what is presumably Tokyo, and Tatsumi writes that he found inspiration in newspaper human interest stories and the police blotter. If that's the case, it seems he was drawn to tragic stories about men who just couldn't cope with their lot. In every story, the protagonist is a kind-faced everyman figure (visually, he is the same in almost every story), who works some kind of menial job either on his own or with men who don't respect him. He either lives alone or at home with a wife or girlfriend who either works as a bar hostess or openly cheats on him. Stripped of his manhood on all fronts, he either lashes out in violence, takes cold-blooded revenge, or commits suicide. Indeed, it's impossible not to notice the misogyny that pervades the stories -- literally every woman is either wanton, scheming, drunk, greedy, or somehow tainted. The urban setting, dominant theme of alienation, outbursts of violence and disgust, and sexual disgust are perhaps best compared to the film "Taxi Driver" in terms of tone, and yet are ones that seem to crop up over and over in modern Japanese fiction and film.
in contrast to the gritty subject matter, the artwork tends to be very clean and crisp, and as with everything published by Drawn & Quarterly, the book is beautifully produced. The panels haven't simply been "flopped" from the original Japanese layout, but have been rearranged for Western formatting, and the results are spectacular. Fans of Adrian Tomine's work will appreciate both the visual style, and the use of silence throughout the stories. However, this is a book that should be read not only by comics aficionados, but by anyone interested in the literature of modern Japan. It will be interesting to see if Tatsumi's stories change tone and theme over time, and I look forward to the 1970 volume.
A Must Buy Book I am very pleased I bought this. The art is great, and the stories are totally disturbing. Despair and a disconnect with the rest of society are common themes throughout these stories. These are themes that never age!
The art is very pleasing, all in black and white they do an excellant job of protraying the despair that runs rampant in the stories.
The stories are not for those that like happy things, but if you like dark stories with unhappy endings (Like real life) then this for you. Highly recommended.
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