DRAGONS BREATH: and Other True Stories - Softcover

2015 Eisner Awards Nomination for Best Reality-Based Work "Award-winning author MariNaomi (Kiss and Tell) returns with this charming and intimate collection of vignettes and meatier personal histories. [...] The book is utterly absorbing, funny, intimate, and even philosophical."--Publishers Weekely "This is a graphic memoir in the vein of Fun Home or Persepolis. [...] Dragon's Breath is a funny, intimate and sometimes sad ode to multiplicity. Each episode comes over you like a puff of smoke, and with it comes both a little cough and the rich scent of fresh tobacco."--Graphic Novel Reporter "The artwork is rendered in MariNaomi's signature sketch-like style, which function as the perfect vehicle for the themes and contexts of the memoir. MariNaomi's memoir also includes very minimalist full page panels that are quite refreshing and provide a nice abstracted space from which to imagine full episodes, our minds doing the work of filling out what the rest of the page whites out. A highly recommended read."--Asian American Literature "Mari has mastered the not-said and the not drawn, leaving only what is honest straighforward and profound."--Gabrielle Bell, The Voyeurs, and Truth is Fragmentary "This work feels familiar. It's like a friend you know."--Carol Tyler, You'll Never Know "God I love these comics so much."--Stephen Elliott, author of Happy Baby, founder of The Rumpus "In Dragon's Breath and Other True Stories, MariNaomi weaves a crazy-quilt of despair, hope, lost loves, new beginnings , horrible regrets, hilarious memories, and above all else, survival. Her beautiful, spare line imparts the greatest emotional impact, creating a delicate storytelling rhythm built on restraint, subtlety and total vulnerability. Her short autobiographical anecdotes create a gestalt of a person who has lived and viewed life with a curious intellect and her heart on her sleeve."--Rob Clough, The Comics Journal

2015 Eisner Awards Nomination for Best Reality-Based Work In this collection of raw, emotionally honest stories, MariNaomi explores a wide range of topics including youthful rebellion, mortality, disillusionment, and compassion. Many of these stories were first serialized on the popular site the Rumpus. These poignant stories, some filled with hope, others tinged with remorse, are sure to appeal to even the most discerning reader. MariNaomi has been making comics since 1997. Her work has appeared in anthologies such as I Saw You: Comics Inspired by Real-Life Missed Connections and the Eisner-nominated No Straights Lines, as well as her award-winning graphic memoir, Kiss & Tell: A Romantic Resume, Ages 0 to 22. Her work on the Rumpus won a SPACE award as well as honorable mention in Houghton Mifflin's Best American Comics 2013.