Chris Ware is a master of the comic art form, telling stories about characters in the suburban Midwest that seem banal but reveal their social commentary on closer inspection. His protagonists have become cult figures in their own right, from Quimby the Mouse and Rusty Brown to (perhaps most of all) Jimmy Corrigan. First serialized in newspapers like the New York Times and The Guardian, his cartoons were later organized into books, playing a role in the graphic novel becoming a literary production. His work has won The Guardian First Book Award and the American Book Award, and made multiple appearances in best-book lists in Time, the New York Times, The Times, and elsewhere. From his base in Oak Park, just outside Chicago, he creates poignant stories that reflect on the role memory plays in constructing our identities, while always reflecting his belief that “there are few skills more worth honing than trying to see the good in others.”
