{"product_id":"talk-to-my-back-9781770465633","title":"Talk to My Back","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA celebrated masterwork shimmering with vulnerability from one of alt-manga's most important female artists.\u003c\/b\u003e \r\n\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Now that we've woken from the dream, what are we going to do?\" Chiharu thinks to herself, rubbing her husband's head affectionately. \r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eSet in an apartment complex on the outskirts of Tokyo, Murasaki Yamada's \u003ci\u003eTalk to My Back\u003c\/i\u003e (1981-84) explores the fraying of Japan's suburban middle-class dreams through a woman's relationship with her two daughters as they mature and assert their independence, and with her husband, who works late and sees his wife as little more than a domestic servant. \r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhile engaging frankly with the compromises of marriage and motherhood, Yamada remains generous with the characters who fetter her protagonist. When her husband has an affair, Chiharu feels that she, too, has broken the marital contract by straying from the template of the happy housewife. Yamada saves her harshest criticisms for society at large, particularly its false promises of eternal satisfaction within the nuclear family--as fears of having been \"thrown away inside that empty vessel called the household\" gnaw at Chiharu's soul. \r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYamada was the first cartoonist in Japan to use the expressive freedoms of alt-manga to address domesticity and womanhood in a realistic, critical, and sustained way. A watershed work of literary manga, \u003ci\u003eTalk to My Back\u003c\/i\u003e was serialized in the influential magazine \u003ci\u003eGaro \u003c\/i\u003ein the early 1980s, and is translated by Eisner-nominated Ryan Holmberg.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ryan Holmberg,Yamada Murasaki\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Drawn \u0026amp; Quarterly\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 07\/12\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 368\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.7lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.35h x 6.19w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781770465633\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/16\/2022\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 07\/01\/2022 pg. 39\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2022 pg. 95\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout The Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eYamada Murasaki \u003c\/b\u003e(1948-2009) debuted as a cartoonist in 1969. Informed by her upbringing--she was raised by her mother and grandmother--and her background in fashion design and poetry, Yamada's early work was unique in form and content, with realistic portraits of young women negotiating their mothers. Later, after having a family of her own, her work shifted to young mothers negotiating children, husbands, and the balance between social responsibilities as a housewife and self-respect as a woman. Considered one of the Three Daughters of \u003ci\u003eGaro\u003c\/i\u003e, Yamada published manga in practically every issue of\u003ci\u003e Garo \u003c\/i\u003efrom 1978-1986, and is considered the first cartoonist to use the modes of alternative manga to explore womanhood and domesticity with an unromantic eye.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ryan Holmberg","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42888294498367,"sku":"9781770465633","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/0710\/5855\/files\/9781770465633.jpg?v=1770409349","url":"https:\/\/casitamanga.com\/products\/talk-to-my-back-9781770465633","provider":"Casita Manga","version":"1.0","type":"link"}