A Jewish rug maker goes to town while his wife is pregnant with their first child. That day, changes in the town's economy rock his world. I have never seen the type of rug described in the book and would like to see what type of rug the protagonist would have woven. I believe(but may be mistaken) that the book is also about how difficult it is to be an idealistic connoisseur, as well as how hard it is to be an idealistic artisan. James Sturm, you are really a treasure.Your work is such a work of art, carefully not drawing attention to the artist himself, celebrating the fact that you're making a graphic novel, and not just writing a story and not just bombarding us with new and interesting art. And the story, too, of the way the world changes, painfully, imperceptibly but somehow also all at once, in a Jewish Eastern European context here, but very easily universalized... it was a great one for the medium of light and shadows, lines and figures, to tell. The protagonist, a rug weaver, looks at the world through his detail-seeking, abstracting eyes, as well as through his role as an artisan in an increasingly cruelly fast-moving-capitalist world. But somehow, it's a story about how little individual contributions are valued and how lonely and racous the world is simultaneously.At the same time, having said all that, it's just a story. About this one dude. And one day of his life. It doesn't have to mean all of that, and it's still great. Yeah Sturm, I love your historical sense and the care you take with your storytelling. It works.
What do You think about Dia De Mercado (2000)?
Beautifully drawn. Quiet. Dark. Sad. Will read again. Befuddled by ending.
—whateverwhatever
I have to admit, it got a little dusty in the room when he sold his mule.
—justforthis
