The epic autobiography of a manga master Acclaimed for his visionary short-story collectionsThe Push Man and Other Stories,Abandon the Old in Tokyo, andGood-Byeoriginally created nearly forty years ago, but just as resonant now as everthe legendary Japanese cartoonist Yoshihiro Tatsumi has come to be recognized in North America as a precursor of today's graphic novel movement.A Drifting Lifeis his monumental memoir eleven years in the making, beginning with his experiences as a child in Osaka, growing up as part of a country burdened by the shadows of World War II. Spanning fifteen years from August 1945 to June 1960, Tatsumi's stand-in protagonist, Hiroshi, faces his father's financial burdens and his parents' failing marriage, his jealous brother's deteriorating health, and the innumerable pitfalls that await him in the competitive manga market of mid-twentieth-century Japan. He dreams of following in the considerable footsteps of his idol, the manga artist Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy,Apollo's Song,Ode to Kirihito,Buddha)with whom Tatsumi eventually became a peer and, at times, a stylistic rival. As with his short-story collection,A Drifting Lifeis designed by Adrian Tomine.

Table of Contents