Peter Kuper's Speechless was reviewed in the all-important Sunday Book Review Section of the New York Times on June 24.  Elissa Lin Meyers gave Speechless a short but very positive review in the 'Books in Brief' section of the Book Review.  Meyers noted that Speechless 'documents a career dedicated to bringing the glee of a child's immersion in a picture book to adult concerns like justice, romance and freedom of speech.  Though he draws comics, Kuper does not make joke books; instead he uses stencils with collage, watercolors or pencil drawings to depict urban chaos in panels astonishing for their clarity and concision.' 

 

The New York Times Book Review is still considered the number one venue for reaching mainstream bookstores and much of the audience that visits them.  For years (with the exception of Art Spiegelman's Maus) the New York Times ignored the development of the modern comic book and graphic novel, but that attitude has changed in the past twelve months.  Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan received a rave review last winter as did Joe Sacco's Safe Area Gorazde (see 'Safe Area Gorazde Reviewed by N.Y. Times').  Even books about the history of comic books like Les Daniels' Wonder Woman volume have been reviewed positively by the Times (see 'Wonder Woman Book Reviewed by the N.Y. Times').  The Book Review even commissioned Chris Ware to provide a series of illustrations and decorations for its all-important 'Summer Reading Issue.'

 

The changing attitudes of the N.Y. Times and the rest of the literary establishment has led to an impressive increase in the number of graphic novels in mainstream bookstores (see 'Give and Take at the BEA').  Speechless is published by Top Shelf, one of the important emerging publishers specializing in books that can sell in both the comic and bookstore market.  LPC, the same book distributor that represents Dark Horse, Image, Tokyopop, Oni Press, and Drawn & Quarterly, distributes Top Shelf books to the traditional bookstore market.  Pop culture retailers who wish to take advantage of exposure that books like Speechless have earned are urged to mount the review on cardboard and place in the store window along with copies of the book, which is also available from comic distributors Coldcut, Diamond, and FM.