A Few Perfect Hours And Other Stories From Southeast Asia And Central Europe Book

In A FEW PERFECT HOURS (AND OTHER STORIES FROM SOUTHEAST ASIA AND CENTRAL EUROPE), autobiographical cartoonist Josh Neufeld takes readers on a globetrotting tour. Highlights include Neufeld and traveling companion Sari Wilson's stint as extras in a Chinese-language Singaporean soap opera, a train trip through war-torn Serbia, and a near-disastrous cave adventure in Thailand. With gentle humor and a keen eye for the revelatory detail, Neufeld explores religion and spirituality, politics and personalities, and the mysteries of everyday life. His stories reflect the backpacker's conflicted feelings: a yearning for adventure mixed with homesickness and a sense of disconnection, trapped in a reality constantly in flux. In the collection's title story, Neufeld illustrates how the tensions and fears involved in travel through a strange country are dispelled by a Thai monk's blessing. In "On a Mission," Neufeld contrasts the viewpoints of American Baptist missionaries in northern Thailand with the traditions of a Buddhist festival. And the book?s longest story, "Cremations, Cubicles, and Cant," is a brand-new 20-page tale about the death of Neufeld?s grandmother, which contrasts her Jewish funeral service with a Balinese cremation ceremony; it forms the emotional heart of the book. Comics Worth Reading observes that Neufeld's comics "provide a street-level view of other cultures, with nothing whitewashed. . . . The stories often remind us of the point of travelling ? to experience and come to terms with the unknown." Throughout the collection, Neufeld uses the comics form to experiment with narrative and point-of-view. The themes and conventions of the eight stories in A FEW PERFECT HOURS will resonate with readers both within and outside the comics world.Read More