Scan barcode
aborham's review against another edition
4.0
I really like how the narrative weaves social changes due to immigration with political and economic such as the rise of real estate business at the neoliberal turn to give an image of how neighborhoods live and die leaving its traces in the form of memories.
jasonfurman's review against another edition
5.0
This stunning historical panorama of one Bronx neighborhood--mostly focused on one lot on one street--is the culmination of Will Eisner's amazing trilogy (the first two are Contract with God and A Life Force). It begins with the English displacing the Dutch, skips rapidly through a few centuries, but then concentrates on the twentieth century as waves of immigrants and migrants move in and partially displace the previous waves--Irish, Italians, Jews, Puerto Ricans, Hasids--often with significant friction, bigotry, violence and corruption--and less often with the traditional melting pot of American imagination.
The characters are great too, many of them recurring over the course of fifty or more years, like Abie Gold who we first meet hitting a baseball through a window in the 1930s (or thereabouts) but then grows up to be a lawyer, city councilman, and then when his patron is killed a lawyer again helping in an attempt to revitalize the neighborhood. A number of other characters, including a boxer turned political boss and a succession of ethnically-appropriate priests make a number of reappearances throughout the book.
The story is one of constant change and motion but also stasis--as the same patterns occur over and over again. And just when you think the story has a redemptive ending, think again as a new set of immigrants come in, the older residents flee, and the neighborhood goes back into a downward spiral. The only thing Eisner misses in the story is gentrification, which clearly had not come to Dropsie in 1995. Maybe someone should write that sequel.
The characters are great too, many of them recurring over the course of fifty or more years, like Abie Gold who we first meet hitting a baseball through a window in the 1930s (or thereabouts) but then grows up to be a lawyer, city councilman, and then when his patron is killed a lawyer again helping in an attempt to revitalize the neighborhood. A number of other characters, including a boxer turned political boss and a succession of ethnically-appropriate priests make a number of reappearances throughout the book.
The story is one of constant change and motion but also stasis--as the same patterns occur over and over again. And just when you think the story has a redemptive ending, think again as a new set of immigrants come in, the older residents flee, and the neighborhood goes back into a downward spiral. The only thing Eisner misses in the story is gentrification, which clearly had not come to Dropsie in 1995. Maybe someone should write that sequel.
earlapvaldez's review against another edition
5.0
If one has to read a book on the development of communities, this is a good primer. Eisner continues his tradition of delivering significant points about human existence in a comic yet subtly profound manner. And again, we see in him a discontinuous way of telling the story but in the course of his narrative, bringing all things together into a single strand, seeing that this is a history of a neighborhood which existed for 90 years and has long taken different social forms.
jason1234's review against another edition
5.0
I have become a huge fan of Will Eisner. I loved this book as well. Good book for anyone who wants to have an experience with graphic novel medium. They will never think of it as just comics..
nup's review against another edition
4.0
Eisner wasn't very good at drawing black people. Very high quality story.
mylibrarybooks's review against another edition
4.0
I love graphic novels (or sequential art if you prefer), and I've read many that were awarded with an Eisner, but I couldn't find many of his works at the library. I found this one and The Plot, both of which had very similar themes. I didn't love the art as much as I expected, but the story was exceptional. I hope I can find more so I can finish this series especially (I feel like I sorta missed out on something, even tho this told a full story. I also just really want to know more about the history of graphic novels and the authors that really brought them into more prominence.
More...