Minor Miracles: Long Ago and Once upon a Time Back When Uncles Were Heroic, Cousins Were Clever, and Miracles Happened on Every Block

by Will Eisner

This powerful graphic novel confirms Will Eisner as a master of the genre.

In this classic graphic novel, Will Eisner?s pen cuts an expansive swath through all aspects of the human condition. A powerful portrayal of Jewish life in the New York City of Eisner?s youth, Minor Miracles encourages similar introspection as it examines how luck and coincidence converge in everyday life in ways that, in hindsight, seem miraculous.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Fiction, Graphic Novels Comics, Bande Dessinée, Historical Fiction, Ebooks

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

William Erwin Eisner was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series The Spirit (1940–1952) was noted for its experiments in content and form. In 1978, he popularized the term "graphic novel" with the publication of his book A Contract with God. He was an early contributor to formal comics studies with his book Comics and Sequential Art (1985). The Eisner Award was named in his honor and is given to recognize achievements each year in the comics medium; he was one of the three inaugural inductees to the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame.

Reviews

[George K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πέρυσι τον Δεκέμβριο διάβασα για πρώτη φορά κάποιο κόμικ του Will Eisner, το καταπληκτικό και εξαιρετικά ιδιαίτερο "Συμβόλαιο με τον Θεό και άλλες ιστορίες", το οποίο οι εκδόσεις Απόπειρα μας έκαναν την χάρη να φέρουν στην Ελλάδα. Μετά το τέλος της ανάγνωσης εκείνου του καταπληκτικού κόμικ, έδωσα από μέσα μου μια υπόσχεση: Να διαβάσω όσα περισσότερα έργα του Will Eisner μπορούσα.

Σήμερα έπεσαν στα χέρια μου δυο δικά του κόμικ και άρπαξα άμεσα προς ανάγνωση το "Minor Miracles", το οποίο και απόλαυσα μέσα σε δυο ώρες (το πήγα με το πάσο μου!). Είναι ένα πραγματικά πολύ ανθρώπινο κόμικ, που αποτυπώνει με ρεαλιστικότητα και λιτότητα την φτώχεια, την ελπίδα για καλύτερη ζωή, την μουντή καθημερινότητα μιας φτωχογειτονιάς Εβραίων μεταναστών στην Νέα Υόρκη, σε μια εποχή πλέον μακρινή και ίσως λησμονημένη. Το βιβλίο ξεχειλίζει από συναισθήματα, από εικόνες, από μυρωδιές, γενικά από ζωή. Και οι τέσσερις ιστορίες έχουν κάτι να προσφέρουν, έχουν ένα μήνυμα να περάσουν, είναι οπωσδήποτε ξεχωριστές και αξιομνημόνευτες. Και η γραφή είναι πολύ καλή, γεμάτη υποδόρια ειρωνεία. Αλλά την διαφορά την κάνει -και πάλι!- το τρομερό σχέδιο. Είναι ένα σχέδιο που ξεφεύγει από τα συνηθισμένα, τα καρέ υπάρχουν αλλά δεν περιορίζονται πάντα σε χοντροκομμένα τετραγωνάκια και κουτάκια, είναι σχέδιο ολοζώντανο, σε μεταφέρει με περισσή ευκολία στον κάπως μουντό και καταθλιπτικό κόσμο της Dropsie Avenue.

Αυτή την φορά, πάντως, θα βάλω τέσσερα αστεράκια στο Goodreads, γιατί το "Συμβόλαιο με τον Θεό και άλλες ιστορίες" μου άρεσε λιγάκι παραπάνω. Και είμαι σίγουρος ότι θα υπάρξουν αρκετά άλλα... πεντάστερα έργα του που θα διαβάσω στο άμεσο μέλλον. Όμως, χωρίς αμφιβολία, είναι ένα κόμικ που προτείνω με κλειστά μάτια!

[Magila · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

Loved the artwork. Found the concept enjoyable, and the actual stories a little pedestrian. This is a nice little short collection of neighborhood stories, but I'd recommend picking this up at the local library over purchasing it. If you enjoy Eisner, or that old "Disney" style, I think you will at least enjoy the illustrations.

[Octavi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está bien. Cuentos con moraleja.

[Corvid · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories about Boy and the wedding ring the best.

[ComicNerdSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent, but not one of Eisner's best. I appreciate his dedication in believing in miracles, but there are points where (like a good deal of his later stuff) this crosses into corny territory. The art's still pretty good though, but I'd take his more experimental stuff over this.

[Praneeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

The way Will Eisner, the genius of graphic art puts it, It's difficult not to believe in miracles after you read this book. Eisner is one of the best in his field. Definitely worth a read, both for the art, and the emotional ride that the four stories of minor miracles take you through.

[Rachel Drrmrmrr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love his stories.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historias cotidianas en el barrio judío de Nueva York. Cuatro historias que entrelazan magia e ironía para reflexionar del absurdo que puede resultar la vida.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a collection of some of Eisner's short works, all set in his version of Depression-era New York. One of the stories is decidedly non-modern, the one about the girl struck dumb by trauma marrying a man crippled by something that might have been polio. The story is not about nice characters or nice situations, but still tells a heck of an interesting story. The other stories are odd little moral tales, very interesting pieces of Eisner's later work.
If you've read a few of Eisner's "Dropsie Avenue" stories, then these will fit right in. If you haven't, then this book is a quick sampler showing the style that he used for his more serious tales.

[Codepoetz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Late in his life, famous cartoonist Wil Eisner once again sifts through his personal memories of the Jewish tenements in New York City where he lived as a child. The stories in this book all describe how small actions taken by one person can create huge (perhaps even "miraculous") transformations in the community. Unfortunately, this book doesn't have the same magic as his *Contract With God* masterwork, but remains well worth reading.

[Zeke Fairley · Rating 4 out of 5]

really great fun stories. favorite were the boy one and the marriage one. some images are fully burned in my head now--especially the gunshot in the rain. beautiful art. i understand how Eisner is the best. he is! especially compared to the really bad comics I have been reading.

also i just realized kavalier and clay is based on him...interesting interesting. gonna read a lot of Eisner this month!

[Malcolm · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories take different turns than the usual. Melba never finds the special boy again. Marvin the cripple takes back his ex-wife Reba when she goes blind. A sense of neighborhood emerges from the tales of triumph and loss. But not enough for a fourth star.

[Montse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Creo que es la primer novela gráfica a la que le doy 2 estrellas, me llamó muchísimo la atención la premisa de los milagros, pero las historias como tal se me hicieron muy sosas. Buu ni hablar, le daré otra oportunidad a Eisner en Contrato con Dios.

[Emerise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beaucoup d'enthousiasme durant cette lecture. Des individus avec des vies difficiles, j'ai apprécié les miracles et les retournements de situation qui créent la surprise! J'ai également bien aimé le récit et les illustrations en noir et blanc.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting set of stories - and what they lack in bite, ultimately, is more than made up for with the amazing drawings.

[Mj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genius.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming and linked folksy stories from a nostalgic neighborhood, filtered through a culture and a time that now exists in memory.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 5 out of 5]

The awards are named after him for good reason!!!

[june3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best story "A Special Wedding Ring"
Definitely worth another read :-)

[anemox · Rating 1 out of 5]

Me ha gustado el prólogo, la temática de los milagros y las ilustraciones, pero las historias no me convencen. Además, están repletas de personajes masculinos y de estereotipos sexistas.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the graphics and the stories. Made me laugh and kept me entertained.

[Srawan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fragments of everyday life, from a time before. Warm and good.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories of small miracles that touched the lives of the people on Dropsie St. Always thought provoking.

[Carlos Úbeda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colección de cuatro pequeñas historias morales a cargo de Will Eisner. Pese a no poder desplegar un desarrollo muy profundo, tienen un entrañable poso literario clásico.

[Dakota · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Kritanjay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice stories. Unpredictable and fresh

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this collection of tales. They don't seem dated in anything other fashion; they're just about the ways people interact. Any of these, or things like them, could still happen today and be perfectly believable! Whether any of them actually *did* happen as written is unimportant.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

More slice of bizarre life on Dropsie street. The arranged marriage of two disabled adults is a bit creep and very old fashioned.

[Ginevra L · Rating 4 out of 5]

perfetto.

[Sasluu · Rating 4 out of 5]

The graphic history of the Beats left me with a craving for graphic narrative, so the next time I was in a bookshop I asked my friend for advice and got myself this precious little gem of a collection of graphic short stories by Will Eisner who, it transpires, is a famous and influential author of graphic fiction. What I liked about this book was the depth of its characters, which did not come from anything that could be exploited for glamour. The settings were not seedy or subterranean or sexy or dark in any obvious way; they were not even mysterious but plain run-of-the-mill early 20th century New York immigrant neighbourhoods, in which very little actually happens other than gossip, that gets mixed up with old-wives' tales and superstitions imported directly from the European places of origin of the people now living there. And the characters that are not middle-aged, past their prime or disenchanted are not beautiful or heroic or dramatically jaded either. Each of them, however, is quite unique. They give the impression of being what they are as a result of their environment; of what and who they've been surrounded by all their lives. This is a kind of construction of character and situation that I don't associate with graphic fiction. Granted, it is a genre I know next to nothing about, but the comics I have read have always emphasised how extraordinary their main characters are. The graphic characters I have known are always constructed against the social environment we see them in. Eisner's seem to grow "organically" out of their environments or the communities they belong to. This is sheer speculation on my part, but I wonder whether having so successfully embraced this feature of 19th century novels for late 20th century graphic fiction was part of what made Eisner such an original transitive author in his genre.