This Beautiful, Ridiculous City
A Graphic Memoir
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A vibrant graphic memoir of a woman—an immigrant, a survivor, a writer, a foodie, and, ultimately, an optimist—who rebuilds her life in New York City while recovering from the trauma of an abusive relationship.
“An intimate portrait of the city not only as a place of dreams, but as a vital source for healing and self-discovery.”—Nick Sousanis, Eisner Award–winning author of Unflattening
On her first night in New York City, Kay Sohini sits on the tarmac of JFK Airport making an inventory of everything she’s left behind in India: her family, friends, home, and gaslighting ex-boyfriend. In the wake of that untethering she realizes two things: she’s finally made it to the city of her literary heroes—Kerouac, Plath, Bechdel—and the trauma she’s endured has created gaping holes in her memory.
As Kay begins the work of piecing herself back together she discovers the deep sense of belonging that can only be found on the streets of New York City. In the process she falls beautifully, ridiculously in love with the bustling landscape, and realizes that the places we love do not always love us back but can still somehow save us in weird, unexpected ways.
At once heartbreaking and uplifting, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City explores the relationship between trauma and truth, displacement and belonging, and what it means to forge a life of one’s own.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Everyone writes about New York with so much tenderness, even when they are sick of it," Sohini observes in the opening pages of her reflective, rambling debut. Born in a suburb of Calcutta, Sohini grows up immersed in a heady blend of Indian and Western culture but is particularly fascinated by New York City as depicted in American novels and films. As a young adult escaping an abusive relationship, she takes the plunge and moves to the Big Apple. Though her account is peppered with quotations from writers who lived in New York, including Joan Didion, Fran Liebowitz, and Dylan Thomas, it's just as much about India and the ways Sohini balances her homeland with her chosen home. She draws luscious spreads of food to contrast her favorite family dishes with the international cuisine she encounters in America, and cutaway diagrams detail the pros and cons of living in a busy multigenerational house versus a two-person apartment. Much of the story is told in bold full-page compositions anchored by symbolic imagery: Sohini entering a door in the spine of a book, windows opening to reveal moments in time. The narrative builds to no great revelations, but those equally entranced by the mythology of New York will enjoy themselves.
