Synopses & Reviews
A SINGULAR EXPLORATION OF MODERN LOVE AND ALL ITS DEMONS, IN WORDS AND DRAWINGS
In this brilliant gem of a book, artist/writer Leanne Shapton weaves together a voyeuristic tale of love and life through epigrammatic vignettes and sleek line drawings. Entire relationships are encapsulated in a few, stingingly perfect lines: "Colleen was Walter's ex-girlfriend from med school. She loved to dance with men at weddings." Pricking our insecurities, Shapton introduces us to Kim, whose ex "kept a drawerful of love letters in a kitchen drawer . . . She would stare at it while she cooked." And Ben's ex, "a physiotherapist for the U.S. men's and women's Olympic swim teams. She wore small white shorts year-round."
Fascinated by her own jealousy, Shapton interviewed acquaintances about their anxieties and peccadilloes, and the result is a book of surpassing originality: one of those unusual books that comes along to delight us all, like An Exaltation of Larks or Love, Loss, and What I Wore or Griffin and Sabine. Was She Pretty? can also share the shelf with the work of the legendary William Steig, whose early, psychologically revealing work inspired Shapton. An unflinching observer of human behavior, she invites us to peer into the hearts and minds of her characters--while reminding us that we shouldn't be surprised if we see ourselves staring right back.
Review
"Deceivingly simple, Leanne Shapton's Was She Pretty? pairs melancholy, broad-stroked portraits with stories about sundry men and their exes...in just a few sentences. (Grade: A)" Entertainment Weekly
Review
"[T]hese women, like all the exes, are summed up in only a few skeletal lines of words and ink and thus have no persona, no life....We are thus left with an imprecise, lugubrious portrait of modern single women, which soon becomes wearing..." Marisha Pessl, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[A] modest achievement. The drawings, while not virtuosic, are expressive; the language is correspondingly plain yet evocative. Permeated with fears and desires, Was She Pretty? effectively creates a dreamlike experience." Salon.com
Review
"More bitter than sweet, more funny than sad, Was She Pretty? reads like a cross between a children's book and a collection of poems, with a ferocious Dorothy Parker twist." Daily Candy
Synopsis
A voyeuristic tale of love and life is woven together through epigrammatic vignettes and sleek line drawings in this exploration of modern love and all its demons and the vast mysteries of human relationships.
Synopsis
In this brilliant gem of a book, artist/writer Leanne Shapton weaves together a voyeuristic tale of love and life through epigrammatic vignettes and sleek line drawings. Entire relationships are encapsulated in a few, stingingly perfect lines: "Colleen was Walter's ex-girlfriend from med school. She loved to dance with men at weddings." Pricking our insecurities, Shapton introduces us to Kim, whose ex "kept a drawerful of love letters in a kitchen drawer...She would stare at it while she cooked." And Ben's ex, "a physiotherapist for the U.S. men's and women's Olympic swim teams. She wore small white shorts year-round."
Fascinated by her own jealousy, Shapton interviewed acquaintances about their anxieties and peccadilloes, and the result is a book of surpassing originality: one of those unusual books that comes along to delight us all, like An Exaltation of Larks or Love, Loss, and What I Wore or Griffin and Sabine. Was She Pretty? can also share the shelf with the work of the legendary William Steig, whose early, psychologically revealing work inspired Shapton. An unflinching observer of human behavior, she invites us to peer into the hearts and minds of her characters while reminding us that we shouldn't be surprised if we see ourselves staring right back.
About the Author
Leanne Shapton is an art director, illustrator, artist, and publisher based in New
York. She has contributed work to The New York Times, Harper's, The New Yorker, GQ, Jane, Flaunt, and Seventeen, among others. She runs J&L Books with the photographer Jason Fulford.