Beschrijving

Adrian Tomine’s graphic novel Shortcomings is his only work that fully deals with themes of being a young Asian-American male in American society. Ben Tanaka, the story’s protagonist, lives in Berkeley, California with his politically active girlfriend Miko Hayashi. Ben is uninterested in Miko’s participation in the Asian-American cultural community, but he possesses a wandering eye—specifically for Caucasianwomen. When Miko begins to resent what she interprets as a rejection of both her Asian heritage and of herself, she moves to New York, at which point Ben disastrously attempts to pursue the type of woman he feels he really wants.

Shortcomings was originally serialized in issues #9 through #11 of Tomine’s comic book series Optic Nerve.