MORE OR TITLES
OF RELATED INTEREST
Diaspora Boy
COMICS ON CRISIS IN AMERICA AND ISRAEL
With an Introduction by PETER BEINART
“One of the most fascinating and darkly humorous books in living memory.”
—Los Angeles Review of Books
“A gorgeous, enormous and important collection.” —Haaretz
“Explosively subversive.” —Kirkus
“His cartoons aren’t only raucously funny. They constitute a searing indictment of the moral corruption of organized American Jewish life in our age.” —Peter Beinart
“With great humor, Eli Valley's comic-strips expertly debunk the benighted tribal propaganda that passes for mainstream Jewish thought. As he demonstrates in each of his strips, the struggle for Jewish emancipation is far from over.” —Ben Katchor
“The work is difficult, funny, powerful, mightily subversive, and a testament to the depth of his focus.” —Hyperallergic
“Anyone interested in ongoing debates in the Jewish community, and the political uses of humor, should check out his work, which is smart, talkative and heavily inked. … Hilarious.”
—Kent Worcester, The Comics Journal
“Your work is disgusting. And also stupid.” —Marty Peretz
“Bigoted, unfunny.” —Abe Foxman
“Grotesque. … Wretched.” —Bret Stephens
“Ferociously repugnant.” —Commentary
“One of the most antisemitic things I've ever seen.” —Meghan McCain
TweetBuy This Book
|
Paperback: $35/£29
 |
E-book*: $15/£13
|
Print + E-book: $40/£33
|
FAQs and shipping information
*Due to formatting restrictions, e-book is available as a PDF only. We apologize for any inconvenience.
About the Book
Eli Valley’s comic strips are intricate fever dreams employing noir, horror, slapstick and science fiction to expose the outlandish hypocrisies at play in the American/Israeli relationship. Sometimes banned, often controversial and always hilarious, Valley’s work has helped to energize a generation exasperated by American complicity in an Israeli occupation now entering its fiftieth year.
This, the first full-scale anthology of Valley’s art, provides an essential retrospective of America and Israel at a turning point. With meticulously detailed line work and a richly satirical palette peppered with perseverating turtles, xenophobic Jedi knights, sputtering superheroes, mutating golems and zombie billionaires, Valley’s comics unmask the hypocrisy and horror behind the headlines. This collection supplements the satires with historical background and contexts, insights into the creative process, selected reactions to the works, and behind-the-scenes tales of tensions over what was permissible for publication.
Brutally riotous and irreverent, the comics in this volume are a vital contribution to a centuries-old tradition of graphic protest and polemics.
Trim 12″ x 14″ • 144 pages, fully illustrated
Paperback ISBN 978-1-682190-70-8 • E-book 978-1-682190-71-5
About the Author
|
Photograph © Loubna Mrie
|
Eli Valley’s work has appeared in a range of publications including The Nation, The Nib, The New Republic, The Village Voice, The Forward and Gawker. |
Look Inside the Book
(Click images to enlarge)
In the Media
- “Valley’s 2017 anthology – aptly named Disapora Boy: Comics On Crisis In America and Israel – is…a deep dive into the Jewish-American subconscious. The book is a collection of some of his best (and most brutal) work since around 2008.” — Azad Essa for Middle East Eye on ELI VALLEY, author of DIASPORA BOY (5/14/2019)
- “You know, there are reasons to be angry. You know, if you’re not angry, you’re not, you’re not awake right now.” —ELI VALLEY, author of DIASPORA BOY to Bob Garfield for On the Media (5/8/2019)
- “When you’re in such a warped mindset, it’s natural you’re going to call a piece of Jewish art antisemitic” —ELI VALLEY, author of DIASPORA BOY in conversation with Shuja Haider for Popula (3/15/2019)
- “Valley’s been having a series of good mornings, by which I mean terrible mornings. His career’s going great, but that’s partly because everything else is going to hell in a handbasket.” – Abraham Riesman on ELI VALLEY, author of DIASPORA BOY for Vulture (2/22/2019)
- ELI VALLEY on the rift between diaspora Jews and Israel at i24 News (5/14/2018)
- “Very funny and extremely challenging”: The Reporter reviews DIASPORA BOY (3/12/2018)
- ELI VALLEY is interviewed in American Jewish World (1/11/2018)
- Red Pepper calls ELI VALLEY “one of the great masters of graphic satire.” (1/3/2018)
- “While many may not realize it or refuse to believe it, the Jewish community needs these nonconformist voices more than ever.” Jewish Book Council on DIASPORA BOY (11/17/2017)
- “Redefining Jewish Authenticity.” ELI VALLEY is interviewed in Los Angeles Review of Books (11/13/2017)
