City People Notebook

An extraordinary and classic graphic novel celebrating the Big Apple, from the master of American comics art.

With an unparalleled eye for stories and expressive illustration, Will Eisner, the master and pioneer of American comics art, presents one of his renowned celebrations of the Big Apple. No illustrator evoked the melancholy duskiness of New York City as expressively as Eisner, who knew the city from the bottom up.

City People Notebook contains character sketches and timeless snapshots of the eccentric denizens of the American city that perfectly capture Eisner's genius and powers of observation.

Will Eisner, the Elvis of comics, loved watching the people around him and reporting on their quirks. City People Notebook is a collection of short pieces--call them graphic poems--grouped thematically under the headings Time, Space, and Smell. He captures the essences of these qualities as experienced by urban folk (even smell, a tough literary nut, cracks easily for him). His graphic poems are strongly reminiscent of the free-form pieces from the old Mad magazine, with a greater depth and maturity. Sometimes goofy, sometimes haunting, and usually insightful, Eisner's City People Notebook is a wise guide to the weird world of the urbanite. --Rob Lightner