Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Gatsby Croaking


Having seen my share of struggling manuscripts in 2007, I was extremely intrigued by what New York Observer books editor Adam Begley calls "inarguably the worst book of 2007," which unfortunately, you can't buy in the US or the UK due to copyright law. It's a graphic adaptation of The Great Gatsby published in Australia by Allen and Unwin, and Begley describes it this way:


The artist -- if that's the appropriate term -- has chosen to portray all the characters as "fantastical creatures": Gastby looks like a seahorse; Daisy is a puffball bisected by a worm; Nick is some kind of newt; Myrtle has one eye in the middle of her otherwise frog-like face ... So you turn the pages and read an abridged version of Fitzgerald's text and gaze on these random mutants as they shuttle back and forth between Manhattan and West Egg. It's obscene, a kind of desecration.


Don't worry, it's available in Canada!


*click to enlarge the graphic on the left, it's pretty great

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