A Few Perfect Hours: And Other Stories from Southeast Asia & Central Europe

What a lovely book! The title conveys the sense perfectly. These finely drawn stories capture the moments any traveller will recognize, when throwing yourself at the mercy of the world leaves you exposed not only to things mind-blowingly new but also to your own template--sensory memories, childhood perceptions, early hurts and wonderings. Any reader who is interested in travel will appreciate this book, whether or not she usually likes comics. A FEW PERFECT HOURS works on so many levels, I've found myself leaving it out and turning to it again and again.

"A Few Perfect Hours" isn't the kind of work you can easily peg: A graphic novel, it's also the kind of compelling travel writing that takes you on a journey both inside and beyond yourself, to off-the-beaten-path adventures in countries that no longer exist precisely the way they did when Josh & his wife Sari once traveled the globe. The result is a journey in time as well as one between borders. With pieces ranging from humorous to thought-provoking, Neufeld shows he is as capable of fascinating us with his writing as he is with his illustrations. Both bear up to several visits. In fact, it might be worth reading the whole book through once for the stories, again for the visuals, and at least once more to explore how the two interact. A tip-off to the care he took inside, Neufeld packaged his work in an impressive form (paper, ink, and front and back matter) that makes "A Few Perfect Hours" a beautiful book that stands apart on the shelf. The result is a very readable, rewarding graphic novel that would be equally perfect tucked in a backpack or lying on a coffeetable.

Much will be (and has already been) said about Josh Neufeld's journey -- spiritual, emotional, physical, and otherwise -- as he depicts it in this insightful compilation (and indeed it is highly satisfying for a reader to observe -- as a voyeur safely removed from the frequent moral quandaries one faces when travelling abroad -- Josh's struggles while schlepping his American-bred presumptions around the globe). But as gratifying as these anecdotes might be, what really stikes me the most is his journey as an artist. Here is not simply the chronicles of a young man and his adventures in a comic book format, it's also the chronicles of an artist: years of experimentation, study, and refining a singular vision and style. This book did not happen overnight. Look closely, and you'll recognize the Life of The Comic Book Artist -- hidden behind the stories, Josh has provided us with a glimpse of how much art and an artist can change over time, even if ever so subtly. Having read much of his other works, I can now appreciate even more the times he has discussed his stylistic choices, because this book contains it all -- the whole kit and caboodle at my fingertips. So, keeping in mind Josh's own self-analyses from earlier years, I can now smile and laugh even harder when I see Josh in a tight bodysuit or Sari's tiny little feet (p. 61, "How to Star in a Singaporean Soap Opera"). Hergé would be proud...

An unusual comic, nuanced with plenty of broad strokes to keep you off guard. I read it in one sitting, but I actually tried to slow myself down because I didn't want it to end. You really end up feeling like you know Josh and Sari. This is a wonderful book, perfect for stocking stuffers.

This book is an education for travelers (note: even the armchair sort). While the subtext for the reader is a couple figuring out distant places with common sense, intellect, and humor (in outstanding drawings that fill each frame!!!), the real draw is in the lovingly rendered and often hilarious details of a Sri Lankan airplane and it's passengers, a Balinese bathroom, a perilous underground cave, and a Singapore Soap Opera set that is supposed to represent Chinatown, NYC (my personal favorite), just to name a few. This book would be a great gift for a graduate (either high school or college). It is a first rate introduction to the real joys and challenges of shoe string travel, and it is chock full of useful information(!). It made me smile and laugh out loud many times as memories flooded back to me about my own many wide eyed trips. It is aptly titled for the quest of it's author, and for the pleasure it gives the reader.