Overview

A young, second-generation immigrant wanders through her city and memories, encountering the world through a camera's lens, her independence pulled by the gravity of familial responsibility. She drifts until she encounters what could possibly be her potential self. This is a subtle, beautifully drawn work that recalls the cerebral, humanist science fiction of filmmakers such as Chris Marker and Miranda July mixed with the generational themes and unwavering hand of Yasujiro Ozu. GG's comics recall films in more than theme alone: her drawings, with their deep chiaroscuro and subtitle-like use of text, appear to be stills pulled from an enchanting and mysterious foreign film. GG lives and works in the small Canadian prairie city where she grew up during the 1980s. In this pre-Internet era, isolated geographically and culturally, drawing and making up stories was the means to connect to something more. It was romantic and lonely. In 2016 she was included in The Best American Comics, edited by Roz Chast.

Full Product Details

9781927668498

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Reviews

GG's I'm Not Here is an atmospheric, intimate graphic novel that takes a turn for the surreal as it follows an unnamed young woman at a personal crossroads. -- Oliver Sava, A.V. Club The novel is one of the richest and gently disturbing I've read in recent years. -- Chris Gavaler, PopMatters The immediacy of I'm Not Here is undeniably pertinent-almost like we are going to the source of it all or something. The pain depicted in this book feels real as opposed to metaphorical or situational to me. -- Caleb Orecchio, Comics Workbook The only way to engage with I'm Not Here is to take it as it comes, to sit with it, to listen to it speak. Giving yourself so totally over to a text may seem difficult, but it's also commensurably rewarding. -- Shea Hennum, The A.V. Club Our protagonist's indecision, her feeling of being trapped, the dream-logic of her escape; I'm Not Here is a book that represents the current state of family in the 21st century and the power relationships that convolute it. -- Alex Hoffman, Sequential State I'm Not Here is probably my favourite work by GG so far and in elevating ambiguity and mood over a more conventional narrative approach, it is her boldest. -- Kawai Shen, Cute Juice Comics Art and story pair perfectly in this dreamily illustrated exploration of love, responsibility, and disappointment as they're applied to our families and ourselves. -- Annie Bostrom, Booklist I'm Not Here is a haunting tale of the loneliness and isolation that comes with family responsibility. A quiet, powerful book. -- Michael Melgaard, The National Post GG's beautiful illustrations underscore the quiet narrator's deep sadness and hope, as she contemplates elder care, Other-ness and art. -- CBC Books GG's book is quiet, sad and often still, but not devoid of hope. -- Tom Baker, Broken Frontier Small-town anomie has rarely been as haunting as in this spooky mediation on loneliness and surveillance by Canadian artist GG. -- Publishers Weekly, 20 December 2017 Compositionally, I'm Not Here is a masterpiece. Every panel is a stunning image in its own right, and gg's expert knowledge of the human figure gives every character weight and life. Students of storytelling would do well to study this book, and the careful choices gg's made on every page. -- Carta Monir, The Comics Journal I'm Not Here, rendered in an opaque visual style that looks almost rotoscoped, is an attempt to grasp the world before it fades. -- Hayden Bennett, Art in America The atmospheric comics of Canadian cartoonist GG have long rung the Twin Peaks/Lynchian dreamscape bell that hangs in my heart. -- Suzette Smith, The Portland Mercury [I'm Not Here] shows [GG's] deft hand at combining a spare, straightforward narrative with nuanced drawings, enveloping her readers in a beguiling atmosphere of understated yearning and melancholy. -- Roby Kirby, PEN America This is the kind of book that reveals itself to the reader slowly, and over multiple attempts; but once it does, it is a treasure trove of ideas related to family, identity, duty and ethics. -- Rob Clough, High-Low I'm Not Here is a starkly beautiful graphic novel about yearning, home, and escape. -- Lauren Kirshner, Room, issue 41.2 GG has a signature style utterly unique, at least in Canadian indie comics: highly cinematic and influenced by graphic design's attention to the placement of shapes and use of negative space and shadows within each frame, such that the images become at once minimal and hyper-realistic. -- Candida Rifkind, Sequential

GG's I'm Not Here is an atmospheric, intimate graphic novel that takes a turn for the surreal as it follows an unnamed young woman at a personal crossroads. -- Oliver Sava, A.V. Club The novel is one of the richest and gently disturbing I've read in recent years. -- Chris Gavaler, PopMatters The immediacy of I'm Not Here is undeniably pertinent-almost like we are going to the source of it all or something. The pain depicted in this book feels real as opposed to metaphorical or situational to me. -- Caleb Orecchio, Comics Workbook The only way to engage with I'm Not Here is to take it as it comes, to sit with it, to listen to it speak. Giving yourself so totally over to a text may seem difficult, but it's also commensurably rewarding. -- Shea Hennum, The A.V. Club Our protagonist's indecision, her feeling of being trapped, the dream-logic of her escape; I'm Not Here is a book that represents the current state of family in the 21st century and the power relationships that convolute it. -- Alex Hoffman, Sequential State I'm Not Here is probably my favourite work by GG so far and in elevating ambiguity and mood over a more conventional narrative approach, it is her boldest. -- Kawai Shen, Cute Juice Comics

GG's I'm Not Here is an atmospheric, intimate graphic novel that takes a turn for the surreal as it follows an unnamed young woman at a personal crossroads. -- Oliver Sava, A.V. Club The novel is one of the richest and gently disturbing I've read in recent years. -- Chris Gavaler, PopMatters The immediacy of I'm Not Here is undeniably pertinent-almost like we are going to the source of it all or something. The pain depicted in this book feels real as opposed to metaphorical or situational to me. -- Caleb Orecchio, Comics Workbook The only way to engage with I'm Not Here is to take it as it comes, to sit with it, to listen to it speak. Giving yourself so totally over to a text may seem difficult, but it's also commensurably rewarding. -- Shea Hennum, The A.V. Club Our protagonist's indecision, her feeling of being trapped, the dream-logic of her escape; I'm Not Here is a book that represents the current state of family in the 21st century and the power relationships that convolute it. -- Alex Hoffman, Sequential State I'm Not Here is probably my favourite work by GG so far and in elevating ambiguity and mood over a more conventional narrative approach, it is her boldest. -- Kawai Shen, Cute Juice Comics Art and story pair perfectly in this dreamily illustrated exploration of love, responsibility, and disappointment as they're applied to our families and ourselves. -- Annie Bostrom, Booklist I'm Not Here is a haunting tale of the loneliness and isolation that comes with family responsibility. A quiet, powerful book. -- Michael Melgaard, The National Post GG's beautiful illustrations underscore the quiet narrator's deep sadness and hope, as she contemplates elder care, Other-ness and art. -- CBC Books GG's book is quiet, sad and often still, but not devoid of hope. -- Tom Baker, Broken Frontier

GG's I'm Not Here is an atmospheric, intimate graphic novel that takes a turn for the surreal as it follows an unnamed young woman at a personal crossroads. -- Oliver Sava, A.V. Club The novel is one of the richest and gently disturbing I've read in recent years. -- Chris Gavaler, PopMatters The immediacy of I'm Not Here is undeniably pertinent-almost like we are going to the source of it all or something. The pain depicted in this book feels real as opposed to metaphorical or situational to me. -- Caleb Orecchio, Comics Workbook

Author Information

GG lives and works in the small Canadian prairie city where she grew up during the 1980s. In this pre-Internet era, isolated geographically and culturally, drawing and making up stories was the means to connect to something more. It was romantic and lonely. In 2016 she was included in The Best American Comics edited by Roz Chast.

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