Overview

WINNER OF THE 2009 EISNER AWARD FOR BEST NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL!
--NOMINATED FOR THREE 2009 EISNER AWARDS INCLUDING BEST GN & BEST CARTOONIST!
--WINNER OF THE 2008 IGNATZ AWARD FOR "OUTSTANDING DEBUT"!
--ONE OF YALSA'S "GREAT GRAPHIC ...
See more details below
Swallow Me Whole

Available on NOOK devices and apps  
  • Nook Devices
  • NOOK HD/HD+ Tablet
  • NOOK Color
  • NOOK Tablet
  • Tablet/Phone
  • NOOK for Windows 8 Tablet
  • NOOK for iOS
  • NOOK for Android
  • PC/Mac
  • NOOK for Windows 8

Want a NOOK? Explore Now

NOOK Book (eBook)    
NOOK Comics presents exciting graphic novel material in stunning detail, allowing you to read in either portrait or landscape mode as well as pinch & zoom to dive into the tiniest details of your favorite comics.
$8.39
BN.com price
(Save 16%)$9.99 List Price
Note: The title requires NOOK Tablet or NOOK Color with software version 1.4.3. Click here for instructions on installing 1.4.3.

More About This Book

Overview

WINNER OF THE 2009 EISNER AWARD FOR BEST NEW GRAPHIC NOVEL!
--NOMINATED FOR THREE 2009 EISNER AWARDS INCLUDING BEST GN & BEST CARTOONIST!
--WINNER OF THE 2008 IGNATZ AWARD FOR "OUTSTANDING DEBUT"!
--ONE OF YALSA'S "GREAT GRAPHIC NOVELS FOR TEENS"!
--FINALIST FOR THE LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE!
----Swallow Me Whole is the first graphic novel since 1992's Maus to be nominated for this prize in any category.
--WINNER OF THE 2009 IGNATZ AWARD FOR "OUTSTANDING ARTIST"!

"Nate Powell's Swallow Me Whole, a disturbed, haunting book, is impossible to describe... It's not an easy book, but its dark brilliance marks its creator as a writer-artist of genius." --Neel Mukherjee, The Times (UK)

"Scaldingly dark ... Powell's flowing, impressionistic artwork, with its ravenous expanses of negative space, swirls the reader's perspective through his characters' perceptions and back out again." --Douglas Wolk, The New York Times

"Honest and lovingly portrayed. Every word in this graphic novel is carefully chosen, dialogue is realistic, and background "noise" masterfully done. Powell's detailed pen-and-ink drawings are well executed with lettering and images so brilliantly intertwined that they are one and the same." --Lara McAllister, School Library Journal

"Darkly sublime." --Booklist

"His layouts, his touch with shadow and darkness, the way he brings you close enough to Ruth that you can watch her sleep without disturbing her dreams, all that stuff is amazing. ... Nate Powell can do it all. In his hands, even the high-school parking lots and the booths at the local diner are equal parts hope and foreboding." -- Steve Duin, The Oregonian

"[Swallow Me Whole] achieves some stunning effects with the art and the lettering ... Powell has a look halfway between Charles Burns and Craig Thompson, and at times, Swallow Me Whole enters that rarified sphere of art comics where the page design alone achieves the mood and meaning that that the artist is shooting for... Swallow Me Whole captures the desperation of the clinically obsessed, and how from the right angle, it can look like genius." --The AV Club

"Both provocative and thoughtful ... not since Robert Altman's Images has a medium so perfectly conveyed the experience of schizophrenia ... It's the best graphic novel since Craig Thompson's Blankets." --Chris DeVito, CD Syndicated

Swallow Me Whole is a love story carried by rolling fog, terminal illness, hallucination, apophenia, insect armies, secrets held, unshakeable faith, and the search for a master pattern to make sense of one's unraveling.

In his most ambitious book to date, Nate Powell quietly explores the dark corners of adolescence - not the clichéd melodramatic outbursts of rebellion, but the countless tiny moments of madness, the vague relief of medication, and mixed blessing of family ties. As the story unfolds, two stepsiblings hold together amidst schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, family breakdown, animal telepathy, misguided love, and the tiniest hope that everything will someday make sense.

Deliberately paced, delicately drawn, and drenched in shadows, Swallow Me Whole is a landmark achievement for Nate Powell and a suburban ghost story that will haunt readers long after its final pages.
Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Douglas Wolk
Powell's flowing, impressionistic artwork, with its ravenous expanses of negative space, swirls the reader's perspective through his characters' perceptions and back out again. It might not be so bad in Ruth's buzzing, chirruping psychological landscape compared with the world the rest of us see, Powell suggests—but then again it might, and Perry's ability to channel his damage into art might give him an escape route that's closed off to his stepsister.
—The New York Times
Publishers Weekly

Indy comic artist Powell, an Eisner-nominee, works full time with adults with developmental disabilities, which may have been an inspiration for Swallow Me Whole, a stand-alone graphic novel about two teenage stepsiblings with psychological problems. Ruth suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder and thinks she can hear insects speak, making it difficult for her to walk across grassy lawns but landing her a sweet internship in the natural history museum. Perry sometimes sees a tiny wizard who speaks to him about his destiny, which would be cute if this were a fantasy comic; instead, it's sadly tragic since Perry recognizes the wizard as nothing more than a troublesome hallucination. It should be obvious from the start that things will not end well. Dark inks and elongated whispering word balloons carry us into Ruth's world of voices and missing time, while experimental paneling masterfully conveys the characters' inner worlds and altered states. Powell's ultimate message remains unclear: is this a cautionary tale reminding ill teens to take their medication(s)? Or should we take a hopeful message away from Ruth's tragic story, knowing that one need not give in completely to one's delusions? (Oct.)

Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
VOYA - Lisa Martincik
Ruth is afraid to walk across the lawn for fear of crushing insects. They captivate her, sometimes distracting her as they pour from ceiling vents, at other times providing order as she obsessively rearranges the bug jars in her room. Her brother, Perry, can relate, occasionally visited himself by a small wizard who commands him to draw. Their grandmother "Memaw," whose sickbed is their couch, seems to understand as well, but it might be the medication talking. Staying on top of school, finding a job, and getting a boyfriend are even more difficult when one sees the world differently from everybody else—especially when only Ruth can hear the sounds. Powell's largest work to date is also his most polished and ambitious. He gazes fearlessly into the dynamics of parents and siblings, school, long-term aged care, and mental illness, keeping the atmosphere real and tender and as messy as life. Expressive lettering spins (sometimes literally) across the page, clear and big and small and twisty and smudgy and plain depending on the tone of the dialogue, the inner monologue, the shouts, or the quiet musings, requiring more concentration to read when the situation is difficult or chaotic. Powell plays extensively with panel layouts as well, everything in service of the scene, as revealing of the characters' mental landscapes as their words. It is not difficult to follow: the characters and settings themselves are clearly delineated in delicate line work. The difficulty belongs to Perry and especially Ruth as they view an already complex world through the prism of mental illness. This book is dark and beautiful and provides no easy answers; depending on interpretation, the ending mayprovide no answer at all. Reviewer: Lisa Martincik
School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up

Powell has created a complex tale of two adolescent step-siblings struggling through the usual angst and discovery that occur during the teenage years. However, for Ruth and Perry, mental illness makes this time even more difficult. Ruth, who is at the center of the story, suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder and patterns of schizophrenia. Infatuated with insects, she keeps collections of them in jars in her room and is constantly arranging and rearranging them. She hallucinates that masses of insects surround her and fears stepping on any living thing. For Ruth, the simplest tasks present huge challenges. Perry fights his own demon as he tries to rid himself of a small wizard who persistently appears and makes him draw. The author's treatment of mental illness is realistic and sensitive. Readers are brought into the experiences of the characters and empathize with them. The relationships Ruth and Perry have with each other and with other family members are honest and lovingly portrayed. Every word in this graphic novel is carefully chosen, dialogue is realistic, and background "noise" masterfully done. Powell's detailed pen-and-ink drawings are well executed with lettering and images so brilliantly intertwined that they are one and the same. While the complexity and subject matter of Swallow Me Whole will not appeal to everyone, those teens who pick it up will discover a poignant story.-Lara McAllister, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia

Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781603091275
  • Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
  • Publication date: 5/15/2012
  • Sold by: Barnes & Noble
  • Format: eBook
  • Sales rank: 608,378
  • File size: 65 MB
  • Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

Customer Reviews

Be the first to write a review
( 0 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(0)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(0)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(0)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)