The intelligent ideas and themes presented in this novel are very interesting and kept me engaged from start to finish. I would say however that I think some of the ideas went flying right over my head. This gives me incentive to read the book again and delve deeper into the ideas presented. The artwork was outstanding. This is no comic strip, this is a work of art on every page. Stunning insight into human nature is displayed so beautifully in color and lines, it is honestly like nothing I have ever seen before.

One of my favorite parts of the books is contained within 6 pages of images that relate to the everyday life of a couple. The disgusting, the sweet, and the raw moments that are seemingly forgettable but are at the same time utterly unforgettable. You will know this when you see it, a showstopper!

Do yourself a favor and buy this in hardcover. This is a keepsake book that you will treasure for years to come. This book would also make a great gift for someone who enjoys graphic novels, or for someone who is new to the genre. You should know that this is an adult novel and does have some nudity, nothing gratuitous or off color though.


The book blurb reads:

The triumphant return of one of comics’ greatest talents, with an engrossing story of one man’s search for love, meaning, sanity, and perfect architectural proportions. An epic story long awaited, and well worth the wait.

Meet Asterios Polyp: middle-aged, meagerly successful architect and teacher, aesthete and womanizer, whose life is wholly upended when his New York City apartment goes up in flames. In a tenacious daze, he leaves the city and relocates to a small town in the American heartland. But what is this “escape” really about?

As the story unfolds, moving between the present and the past, we begin to understand this confounding yet fascinating character, and how he’s gotten to where he is. And isn’t. And we meet Hana: a sweet, smart, first-generation Japanese American artist with whom he had made a blissful life. But now she’s gone. Did Asterios do something to drive her away? What has happened to her? Is she even alive? All the questions will be answered, eventually.

In the meantime, we are enthralled by Mazzucchelli’s extraordinarily imagined world of brilliantly conceived eccentrics, sharply observed social mores, and deftly depicted asides on everything from design theory to the nature of human perception.

Asterios Polyp is David Mazzucchelli’s masterpiece: a great American graphic novel.