Living & Dying in America: A Daily Chronicle 2020-2022

Author: Steve Brodner

Living & Dying in America includes many lovingly drawn portraits of those who died in the pandemic and of those who displayed extraordinary strength, decency, courage, and endurance. But Brodner does not ignore those who perpetuated the pandemic in word or deed: he also etches in acid caricature those public servants and private entrepreneurs who preyed upon the public, spread lies, and aided the virus' spread through their ignorance, incompetence, and malfeasance. Released via Brodner's daily column in The Nation, the drawings range from quick, expertly realized sketches to elaborate paintings to carefully rendered mixed media, depending on how much time and stamina and inspiration he had left at the end of the day. Each spontaneously drawn or painted image is accompanied by a brief biography of those who died, or a short summary of the person's conduct or the event depicted.

Taken as a whole, Living & Dying in America is a chronicle of those who died and those who honorably served the living -- as well as an indictment of those institutions and political figures who betrayed the public trust. It is a searing and essential moral document, written and drawn on a daily basis with feverish intensity by one of the great forces of American cartooning.

Publisher: Fantagraphics Books
Published: 09/13/2022
Pages: 480
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 2.15lbs
Size: 6.77h x 6.83w x 1.85d
ISBN: 9781683965534

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 05/15/2022 pg. 36
Publishers Weekly 08/22/2022
Library Journal 08/12/2022 pg. 1

About the Author
Brodner, Steve: - Steve Brodner is an award-winning caricature artist, political cartoonist, educator, and author; publications such as The New York Times, Esquire, and The New Yorker feature his work. The 2011 Gold medal in the editorial category from the Society of Illustrators counts among his many accolades. He currently lives in New York City, where he teaches at the School of Visual Arts and the Fashion Institute of Technology.