Mature Readers

112 pages; hard cover; black & white

From the author of Optic Nerve, the most anticipated graphic novel of 2007! Ben Tanaka has problems. In addition to being rampantly critical, sarcastic, and insensitive, his long-term girlfriend, Miko Hayashi, suspects that Ben has a wandering eye, and more to the point, a wandering eye in the direction ofwhite women. This accusation (and its various implications) becomes the subject of heated debate, setting in motion a story that pits California against New York, devotion against desire, and truth against trust. By confusing their personal problems with political ones, Ben and Miko are strangely alone together and oddly alike, even as they fly apart, failing to see that what unites them is their shared hypocrisies and double standards. This gray zone between the personal and the political is a minefield that acclaimed cartoonist Adrian Tomine navigates boldly and nimbly. An insightful reflection of human shortcomings!