Hand-Drying in America: And Other Stories

From one of the most original and imaginative American cartoonists at work today comes a collection of graphic narratives on the subjects of urban planning, product design, and architecture--a surrealist handbook for the rebuilding of society in the twenty-first century.

Ben Katchor, a master at twisting mundane commodities into surreal objects of social significance, now takes on the many ways our property influences and reflects cultural values. Here are window-ledge pillows designed expressly for people-watching and a forest of artificial trees for sufferers of hay fever. The Brotherhood of Immaculate Consumption deals with the matter of products that outlive their owners; a school of dance is based upon the choreographic motion of paying with cash; high-visibility construction vests are marketed to lonely people as a method of getting noticed. With cutting wit Katchor reveals a world similar to our own--lives are defined by possessions, consumerism is a kind of spirituality--but also slightly, fabulously askew. Frequently and brilliantly bizarre, and always mesmerizing, Hand-Drying in America ensures that you will never look at a building, a bar of soap, or an ATM the same way.

WITH BEAUTIFUL FULL-COLOR ILLUSTRATIONS THROUGHOUT

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Published: 03/05/2013
ISBN: 9780307906908
Pages: 160
Weight: 3.17lbs
Size: 12.20h x 11.67w x 0.83d
Award: L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist

Review Citations: Publishers Weekly 11/19/2012 pg. 42
Kirkus Reviews 12/15/2012
Booklist 03/01/2013 pg. 46
New York Times Book Review 08/04/2013 pg. 18