Sunny Side Down: A Collection of Tales of Mere Existence

by Lev Yilmaz

Overview

Lev is just like any other young, urban sub-professional who sees the world through inch-thick goggles of self-consciousness. Armed only with insecurity, doubt, and a seemingly inadvisable tenacity, Lev trudges through his days furiously analyzing himself and the world around him, desperately trying to figure out where he fits in.

If you have ever felt like a perpetual square peg in a world of round holes, you have found a kindred spirit.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416591184
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	03/03/2009
Edition description:	Original
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	7.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.54(d)

About the Author

Lev Yilmaz began building a viral following for his "Tales of Mere Existence" in 2002. His films have appeared in Davy Rothbart's Found, on Comedy Central, at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, in the 2007 Saatchi & Saatchi New Directors showcase, and have won several Audience Choice awards including the one at the 2006 World of Comedy festival, and one at the Florida Film Festival in both 2006 and 2007.

Table of Contents

CHAPTER 1:
I was born.

CHAPTER 2
I went to school.

CHAPTER 3
I sort of became an adult.

CHAPTER 4
I found love to be somewhat complicated.

CHAPTER 5
I have no idea what is supposed to happen next.

Editorial Reviews

"Lev Yilmaz is a demented and troubled young man. But he's demented and troubled in the same ways as the rest of us, which is what makes this book so funny, captivating, and identifiable. I'm a fan." — Davy Rothbart, creator of Found magazine, and author of The Lone Surfer of Montana, Kansas

"Sunny Side Down is either a really happy book about misery...or a miserable book about happiness. Either way, Lev Yilmaz is among my favorite depressed authors who is not dead." — David Nadelberg, Author, Mortified

"Hilariously insightful comics for the modern bachelor, and the women who dump him." — Keith Knight, author of K Chronicles

From the Publisher

YouTube-hit Yilmaz made a name for himself through charming animations of his daily life. Shorts such as "A Conversation with My Mother" and "How I Learned About Girls" remain hits. Now, Yilmaz turns his sensibility to the printed page, adapting some of his video tales to print and writing original comics on various phases of life: childhood, high school, college and that miserable period after college when nothing seems quite right and we have to find our own direction. In this volume, Yilmaz shows off his excellent drawing skills and a quirky worldview, but the print version of his autobiography isn't as successful without his wry narration and the fascination of watching a drawing come to life in an animation. Still, sections like "Psychoanalysis of Playtime" and "Some Childhood Fears" combine a great memory for one's past with clear, crisp art. In the last section, Yilmaz struggles for the detachment that makes his online videos both sympathetic and insightful. It's a brave thing for a young artist to do and bodes well for Yilmaz's future work, even if something is lost to the reader of this book. (Mar.)

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