By Adrian Tomine / Hard cover, color, 168 pages / August 2020

There’s a special irony in releasing a book about loneliness during a pandemic. But of course publishing schedules are long, and we envisioned this summer looking much differently. But there’s also a comfort in reading Adrian Tomine’s The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist right now. There are many directions I could take this post in—there’s so much going on in this book that I adore—but being the sap that I am, what drew me in from the start was watching this transformation of Adrian from a self-centered young man with a pretty small world, to something much more rich—something outside of himself, with a career touching enough people that it wasn’t really just about him anymore; with a wife, a family. It’s really a beautiful—and terribly human—story of growing up and into the world. These days, I’m finding the most comfort in stories like this—books and tv that remind me of what I love so much about humans—their flaws, their foibles, their hearts.