Join us at Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (176 Rue Bernard Ouest) for our Graphic Novel Book Club! On Tuesday October 20th at 7 pm we will be discussing Narrow Rooms by Choi Sungmin, translated by Janet Hong and published by Drawn & Quarterly. This meeting will be hosted by Librairie D+Q Retail Director Kennedy Rooke. The Graphic Novel Book Club is free to attend and no reservation is required.
Buy the book: https://mtl.drawnandquarterly.com/rooms

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
A romantic thriller exploring the dark corners of human desire and isolation with quiet eeriness
Is a fresh start truly possible? Or will society’s strictures and your own impulses keep re-creating the same messed-up relationships in every narrow room you enter?
Choi Sungmin’s Narrow Rooms follows a young woman who leaves her rural hometown to study in Seoul and seek self-improvement. But once there, she quickly becomes the target of unwanted attention from her teacher, and the whispers of other students only deepen her alienation. Living in a cramped, poorly soundproofed room, the suffocating atmosphere begins to further distort her boundaries and perceptions. Longing for escape, she fixates on a handsome new neighbor, her fascination spiraling into obsession: She secretly rummages through his mailbox, collects his discarded cigarette butts and teabags, and hoards his trash. But when she discovers something unsavory about the object of her desire, will she be forced to confront the morals of her own behavior?
With clean, uniform lines and milky colors reminiscent of glass paintings, Choi’s cartooning heightens the story’s sense of claustrophobia and unreality. Expertly translated from the Korean by Janet Hong and originally serialized as a Webtoon, Narrow Rooms has been praised for its raw, unsparing depiction of how human desires leak out when confined behind thin walls, emerging in unsettling, antisocial ways that no amount of self-control can fully contain.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
An illustrator and cartoonist based in Seoul, Choi Sungmin has published several short comics and graphic novels. She is known for her distinctive and precise ins, and surreal, dystopian themes. Narrow Rooms is her first to be translated to English.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Accessibility information:
– Our store uses StopGap.ca ramps in an effort to encourage accessibility. Both the step at the entrance, followed by a half step and a door have StopGap ramps. The door opens inward and is not automated. Once inside, there are no additional steps.
– There is one non-gendered bathroom.
– It is not a sober space, our events sometimes offer alcohol.
– Please email events@drawnandquarterly.com if you have any accessibility needs we can accommodate.