Description: Award-winning cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim contemplates and explores the long shadow North Korea casts over Korean society
On an island located an hour from Seoul, North Korea sits visible from cartoonist Keum Suk Gendry-Kim's home and studio. The specter of the infamous dictatorship and nuclear power looms over daily life. Artillery fire, helicopters, and sirens from a nearby military base paint the acoustic landscape. In her award-winning books Grass and The Waiting, Gendry-Kim documents the pain and heartbreak of Korea's history. In My Friend Kim Jong-Un, she looks to the present--to the man currently responsible for upholding the national divide created after World War Two. While the rest of the world partakes in the popularity of Korean culture, a certain unease and anxiety hangs in the air in South Korea as its people still grapple with the distrust and anger of one culture split into two distinct societies. Gendry-Kim explores the life of the supreme leader, searching for commonalities to make sense of the daily fear: from his birth to his international education, his hobbies, and his relationships. She weaves her personal accounts and includes interviews with former South Korean president Moon Jae-in, North Korean defectors, researchers, journalists, and even Kim's former chef. Translated by the award-winning Janet Hong, My Friend... is a cautionary tale on what makes a dictator, at a time when these lessons are more relevant in the West than ever.Brief description: Keum Suk Gendry-Kim was born in Goheung in Jeolla Province. A prolific cartoonist, her books have been translated around the world, and her graphic novels Grass, The Waiting, The Naked Tree, Dog Days, and soon, My Friend Kim Jong-Un have been translated to English. Grass appeared on Best of the Year lists from The New York Times and The Guardian, and received the Cartoonist Studio Prize for the Best Print Comic of the Year, the Big Other Book Award for Best Graphic Novel, the Harvey Award for Best International Book, and the Krause Essay Prize.
Review Quotes: One of the New York Public Library's Best New Comics for Adults!
"In this graphic novel blend of memoir, biography and reportage, the creator of Grass draws on interviews with defectors, journalists, Kim's former chef and former South Korean president Moon Jae-in in an attempt to understand the dictator in whose shadow she grew up."--The Globe & Mail "This extraordinary and empathetic work of comics journalism [offers] a sharp snapshot of today's political moment."--Publishers Weekly, Starred Review "Another magnificent graphic triumph."--Booklist, Starred Review "A thought-provoking, nuanced, and compelling work of graphic nonfiction that offers readers a deeply personal perspective on Korea's unresolved conflict and the anxieties it continues to generate."--Library Journal, Starred Review "With admirable inquisitiveness, a cartoonist shares what she learns about her little-understood neighbor: North Korea."--Kirkus Reviews "Her sharp, exquisite renderings convey poignant details--from knitted eyebrows to loops of barbed wire."--The Walrus "Keum Suk Gendry-Kim's unflinching tale of politics and survival is rendered with a depth of empathy."--The Tyee