In the Flesh: Stories Paperback – February 3, 2009

Of the sundry graphic novels I've read in the past year during my rediscovery of illustrated writing, this is the first that I can definitely say I'll be reading again. Urban, hip, funny, outre, surreal, poignant, sad . . . many of the men, bearing a physical resemblance to the author's self-portrait, are sensitive (needy?) intellectuals involved with girls of apparent Jewish beauty. Of course, there' more to this collection than that, accurately conveyed by the Publisher's Weekly and Booklist reviews. Visually, I really enjoyed the black and white art, the clean style, and some creative paneling, especially when characters are depicted multiple times in a larger spread, creating multiple moments in one visual space.

Surreal, disturbing, and insightful. Shadmi presents us the with dark side of love and relationships through a series of short stories, each with its own themes of obsession, isolation, abuse, and insecurity.

Heart-wrenching narrative

The first word that comes to mind when thinking of In The Flesh is "twisted." These stories start off making the reader think that they might be sexy, might be something to spark the erotic imagination, and just when they start to, boom! Something happens that makes you reconsider what exactly is going on in the story. What could be the familiar when it comes to dating is turned on its head, literally, by characters without heads, who are radioactive, who are alien in some way. There's a growing sense of dread, of caution, of uncertainty that Shadmi masters perfectly.These stories and their accompanying images will stop you in your tracks, make you look again, to be certain that you just saw what you think you saw. From the title, I was expecting one thing, and what I got was completely different, yet I wasn't disappointed in the least, but rather fascinated at the bizarre twists and turns the stories, and Shadmi's art and creativity, took. Don't go into In The Flesh with any expectations, but rather open it to find a world where nothing is at is seems, and characters have to react to madness as if it were normal.

If you just flip through this book, you might be shocked at some of the scenes. Yes, taken out of context, some of the images are offensive. However, when you read the book, it works. These are stories aimed for adults that talk about the harsher sides of love and passion. Some of the stories were poignant, but almost all of them got me thinking more about the meaning of love, lust, passion and relationships.