Empire State: A Love Story (or Not) (review)

After the quirky mathematical/narrative puzzle that was Meanwhile (BCCB 9/10), Shiga returns with a painfully awkward, quietly told story of not-quite-love in a semi-autobiographical graphic novel. Jimmy, a young man whose mom still handles his finances, is pretty sure that a complex love note and movie-style romantic bus ride across the country will get him the (cranky, selfish, New York Jewish) girl of his dreams who came to California just long enough for a degree. Of course, Greyhound trips are almost universally awful, the girl you've quietly admired for years is all too often sleeping with someone else and only sees you as a friend, and men inspired by the science of perfectly covering a library book in Mylar and who can bring Star Wars into any conversation are probably not destined for flashy romantic greatness. Jimmy, much more comfortable in his own skin before he left home, ages quickly and not always gracefully, and teen readers will likely identify strongly with this guy who has huge dreams but not enough life experience to know how to get them going. The story is divided into episodes that allow for a slowly unfolding examination of the evolution of Jimmy's crush. The deceptively simple art (pencil drawings that were then inked, and finally digitally colored by a different artist) may initially seem unimaginatively unvaried, but closer examination reveals that the nuanced story is perfectly reflected in the subtle artwork that emphasizes both the intense absurdity and pain of the novel. The double-page spread of Jimmy's first view from a plane, a stunning cloud-covered sky underneath which, so he has been told, lies the best cityscape view in the world, is a perfect moment of irony. Readers will likely be as content as Jimmy to accept that life isn't really made of the perfect movie moments folks hope for, but it is often wonderfully absurd, and good enough.