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Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv
A nonfiction graphic novel about the aftermath of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2003 -- from documentary film makers Jack Baxter and Josh Faudem.
There's a rule at Mike's never, ever talk politics or religion. At this blues bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront, an international cast of characters mingles with the locals, and everyone is welcome to grab a beer and forget the conflict outside. At least, that's the story Jack and Joshua want to tell in their documentary.
But less than a month after they begin filming, Mike's Place is the target of a deadly suicide bombing. Jack, Joshua, and the Mike's Place family survive the only way they know how-by keeping the camera rolling.
Written by filmmakers Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem and illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Koren Shadmi, Mike's Place chronicles the true story of an infamous terrorist attack in painstaking detail. Rarely has the slow build to tragedy, and the rebirth that follows, been captured with such a compassionate and unflinching eye.
There's a rule at Mike's never, ever talk politics or religion. At this blues bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront, an international cast of characters mingles with the locals, and everyone is welcome to grab a beer and forget the conflict outside. At least, that's the story Jack and Joshua want to tell in their documentary.
But less than a month after they begin filming, Mike's Place is the target of a deadly suicide bombing. Jack, Joshua, and the Mike's Place family survive the only way they know how-by keeping the camera rolling.
Written by filmmakers Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem and illustrated by award-winning cartoonist Koren Shadmi, Mike's Place chronicles the true story of an infamous terrorist attack in painstaking detail. Rarely has the slow build to tragedy, and the rebirth that follows, been captured with such a compassionate and unflinching eye.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2015
5 people are currently reading
434 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
June 15, 2015
A true story based on the authors' experience in Israel, 2003. It centres around two men who are making a documentary about Mike's Place, a bar where all people, of any religion or politics are welcome, but the same are always left outside the door as Mike's is a place where people let it hang loose and be themselves, getting along with each other as fellow people. Just by looking at the cover of the book the reader knows something horrific is going to happen and most of the book leads up to this point so the reader has an impending sense of doom waiting for that to happen. Writing about the Middle East is a difficult topic to cover seeing most people are heavily one side or the other with current events. The authors have managed to show us though how Arabs and Jews living on the same street, sitting in the same bar, can and do get together, talk, are friends, and have lives where they don't think about politics and religion all the live long day. "Normal" life does exist in there behind it all. We are also shown the appreciation they have for the country itself. The beautiful weather, beaches and landscapes. A place where people should want to live. After the bombing there are poignant moments as everyone deals with what happened in their own way, but ultimately for the greater good.
December 6, 2016
4,5*
Hodně silný příběh, ale trochu kostrbatá kresba. Jak si mám oblíbit někoho, kdo na každém obrázku vypadá jinak?
http://www.kniznibanket.com/mikes-place
Hodně silný příběh, ale trochu kostrbatá kresba. Jak si mám oblíbit někoho, kdo na každém obrázku vypadá jinak?
http://www.kniznibanket.com/mikes-place
February 20, 2020
To many indistinct characters, but a compelling story of love and loss overall.
July 11, 2016
Chceš zachytit dojemný, citlivý, drsný a opravdový příběh? Tak toč dál. Toč, ať se děje cokoliv. Protože jedině tak získáš to pravé autentické cosi, co z tvého příběhu udělá pecku. A tohle pecka je. Mike's Place jako komiks sice kdovíjak neuchvátí svojí vizuální stránkou, ale v kombinaci s obsahem se z něho stává dílo, které jde do hloubky. Tak, že si budete říkat, jaké krutosti jsou lidé schopni.
January 30, 2019
Always hard to review a true story telling, even if it's a novel or a graphic novel, and I want to say that I don't review this tragedy or whatever happen to those people, I review the book in itself and only that.
That being said, this book was alright, not perfect, but good enough. First I like the drawing style. I also really like the ambiance that this book set. The characters, the city, everything felt so real and true and this always important and not always well done, and it's even more important when you're telling a true story of course. Where it loose some points is in the rhythm. Some part where good but some just felt a bit too long. The book could have loose a couple of page and it would still have been good, probably even better. I get that at the beginning the author put the emphasis on meeting every person so we get attach and all, but some interview or casual day live part where a bit too much for me. But that is my only minus element. A good book that deserve to be read.
Another editorial point. Keep in mind that this book present one even/tragedy on a very complex conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian one, so please don't get your knowledge on what happen there just based on this book. However which side you think is right, you have the right to your opinion, but get it and assume it from serious read or knowledge on the subject and not just on reading a graphic novel that take place there. This is a very very complex situation that can just be overlook in a book like that.
That being said, this book was alright, not perfect, but good enough. First I like the drawing style. I also really like the ambiance that this book set. The characters, the city, everything felt so real and true and this always important and not always well done, and it's even more important when you're telling a true story of course. Where it loose some points is in the rhythm. Some part where good but some just felt a bit too long. The book could have loose a couple of page and it would still have been good, probably even better. I get that at the beginning the author put the emphasis on meeting every person so we get attach and all, but some interview or casual day live part where a bit too much for me. But that is my only minus element. A good book that deserve to be read.
Another editorial point. Keep in mind that this book present one even/tragedy on a very complex conflict, the Israeli-Palestinian one, so please don't get your knowledge on what happen there just based on this book. However which side you think is right, you have the right to your opinion, but get it and assume it from serious read or knowledge on the subject and not just on reading a graphic novel that take place there. This is a very very complex situation that can just be overlook in a book like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2016
I finished reading Mike's Place, a graphic novel about a terrorist attack at a Tel Aviv, the night before a shooting occurred at a bar in that city. While it's a strange coincidence, these acts of terror are all too common in Israel and it's important for the world to understand these senseless attacks are not singularities.
Despite the fact that Israel and its people live under the constant threat of terrorism, the characters at Mike's Place are hopeful and determined. One of the characters comments that in Israel, one needs to have a short-term memory and not dwell on the past. Mike's Place is a bar where it does not matter if you're Jewish, Muslim or a foreigner, everyone is welcome to have a beer. Baxter and Faudem show the ferocity of the people of Israel and beautifully paints a hopeful picture of co-existence and unity.
This is not a political novel, despite the fact that the act is caused by radical Islamic terrorists who deplore Israel. Mike's Place is a story about people: people like you or I who merely want to live peacefully with their neighbors but are unable to do so. The mainstream media is always quick to paint Israel as the enemy and demonize its citizens, but that's so problematic and ugly. It was interesting to see the land of Israel from both of the perspectives of foreigners and its residents because it gave readers a real, comprehensive look at a controversial place.
All this being said, Mike's Place is an excellent novel that recounts the before and after of a terrible tragedy. The illustrations are top-notch, intricate and capture the beauty of Israel and its citizens. I loved all the details that went into the scenes at the Western Wall (Kotel) and the drawings were so vivid that it brought me back to my last trip there. I highly recommend this graphic novel and would love to see more literature set in Israel in the future.
Despite the fact that Israel and its people live under the constant threat of terrorism, the characters at Mike's Place are hopeful and determined. One of the characters comments that in Israel, one needs to have a short-term memory and not dwell on the past. Mike's Place is a bar where it does not matter if you're Jewish, Muslim or a foreigner, everyone is welcome to have a beer. Baxter and Faudem show the ferocity of the people of Israel and beautifully paints a hopeful picture of co-existence and unity.
This is not a political novel, despite the fact that the act is caused by radical Islamic terrorists who deplore Israel. Mike's Place is a story about people: people like you or I who merely want to live peacefully with their neighbors but are unable to do so. The mainstream media is always quick to paint Israel as the enemy and demonize its citizens, but that's so problematic and ugly. It was interesting to see the land of Israel from both of the perspectives of foreigners and its residents because it gave readers a real, comprehensive look at a controversial place.
All this being said, Mike's Place is an excellent novel that recounts the before and after of a terrible tragedy. The illustrations are top-notch, intricate and capture the beauty of Israel and its citizens. I loved all the details that went into the scenes at the Western Wall (Kotel) and the drawings were so vivid that it brought me back to my last trip there. I highly recommend this graphic novel and would love to see more literature set in Israel in the future.
August 21, 2019
Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv is an autobiographical graphic novel written by the team of Jack Baxter and Joshua Faudem and illustrated by Koren Shadmi. This graphic novel memoir recounts the last days of Jack Baxter in Tel Aviv, while filming a documentary about Mike's Place.
Jack Baxter, American journalist, and his young filmmaker Joshua Faudem are celebrating their last day in Tel Aviv, after a successful filming of their documentary about Mike's Place, a western-style bar that prides itself on a conversational policy of "no politics." Baxter is getting ready to fly back to the States to be with his wife and begin the finishing touches on his film. Minutes before he's about to get a cab, there is an altercation with the bar's bouncer – a patron who unsuccessfully tried to enter the bar screams the words, "ALLAHU AKBAR!" and detonates the explosives he has attached to his body, unleashing death and carnage all over the bar.
Jack Baxter was blown through the front window of the bar, but miraculously, he survived. Three other civilians in the bar that night were not so lucky. After Baxter emerged from a coma with life-threatening injuries, he and Faudem re-purposed the documentary to reflect their experiences. The film, Blues by the Beach, serves as the inspiration for Mike’s Place and the result is nothing shy of exceptional.
Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv is written and constructed rather well. It is a brilliant collaboration of quality writing and beautiful black and white drawings. The illustrations by Shadmi capture the subtle nuances of the tensions leading up to the tragedy.
All in all, Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv is one of the rare examples of a story that is both personal and informative, dealing with the real-world issues afflicting the Middle East and beyond.
Jack Baxter, American journalist, and his young filmmaker Joshua Faudem are celebrating their last day in Tel Aviv, after a successful filming of their documentary about Mike's Place, a western-style bar that prides itself on a conversational policy of "no politics." Baxter is getting ready to fly back to the States to be with his wife and begin the finishing touches on his film. Minutes before he's about to get a cab, there is an altercation with the bar's bouncer – a patron who unsuccessfully tried to enter the bar screams the words, "ALLAHU AKBAR!" and detonates the explosives he has attached to his body, unleashing death and carnage all over the bar.
Jack Baxter was blown through the front window of the bar, but miraculously, he survived. Three other civilians in the bar that night were not so lucky. After Baxter emerged from a coma with life-threatening injuries, he and Faudem re-purposed the documentary to reflect their experiences. The film, Blues by the Beach, serves as the inspiration for Mike’s Place and the result is nothing shy of exceptional.
Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv is written and constructed rather well. It is a brilliant collaboration of quality writing and beautiful black and white drawings. The illustrations by Shadmi capture the subtle nuances of the tensions leading up to the tragedy.
All in all, Mike's Place: A True Story of Love, Blues, and Terror in Tel Aviv is one of the rare examples of a story that is both personal and informative, dealing with the real-world issues afflicting the Middle East and beyond.
September 14, 2017
Po té hrůze, která si říká studium literatury, jsem si řekla, že bych mohla začít něčím odlehčenějším.
Komiks o teroristickém útoku? No krása.
Komiks o teroristickém útoku? No krása.
December 6, 2018
It showed me a glimpse of reality when it came to Israel and the threats they face in day-to-day life.
September 22, 2015
An account of actual events, a 2003 suicide bombing at a popular bar in Tel Aviv known for being open to all religions and perspectives. Leave your politics at the door kinda place. Rare? In Tel Aviv, in the middle east, very rare. Each section is countered by quotations from the Qu'ran that counter the assumptions of the terrorists and the organization that sponsored the attack. It's essentially the most political statement the book makes.
Filmmakers were making a documentary of the bar when the bombing occurred, which led them to believe the attack might not have taken place there had they not been filming there, which is probably true. That part of the story is interesting and complex. Overall, however, the art and story are just okay. The bar and its patrons eschew politics so this becomes the story of people who like to be free to party and are above political and religious divisions who have to wake up to reality. So they choose to party on, and they make the free-to-party film. .. which reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon after 9/11, which goes something like this: Two guys ar drinking in a bar and one of them says, "We have to have another martini or the terrorists have won." I don't know, it's an interesting story, I guess. And I like the fact it is a politically neutral bar. And hey, I like to drink, and escape reality, as much as the next person. But there is still something missing from this story that I would have liked to have seen.
The art is pretty solid. The story is authored by the filmmakers themselves, a kind of making of the film tale, and they get an okay illustrator to illustrate it. It has a sort of filmic quality to it, not surprising given they are filmmakers making a graphic comic about a film, and this makes the storytelling somewhat more complex than it might have been. This is pretty decent documentary comics work, but think Joe Sacco and you see the standard this tale fails to meet.
Filmmakers were making a documentary of the bar when the bombing occurred, which led them to believe the attack might not have taken place there had they not been filming there, which is probably true. That part of the story is interesting and complex. Overall, however, the art and story are just okay. The bar and its patrons eschew politics so this becomes the story of people who like to be free to party and are above political and religious divisions who have to wake up to reality. So they choose to party on, and they make the free-to-party film. .. which reminds me of a New Yorker cartoon after 9/11, which goes something like this: Two guys ar drinking in a bar and one of them says, "We have to have another martini or the terrorists have won." I don't know, it's an interesting story, I guess. And I like the fact it is a politically neutral bar. And hey, I like to drink, and escape reality, as much as the next person. But there is still something missing from this story that I would have liked to have seen.
The art is pretty solid. The story is authored by the filmmakers themselves, a kind of making of the film tale, and they get an okay illustrator to illustrate it. It has a sort of filmic quality to it, not surprising given they are filmmakers making a graphic comic about a film, and this makes the storytelling somewhat more complex than it might have been. This is pretty decent documentary comics work, but think Joe Sacco and you see the standard this tale fails to meet.
December 26, 2016
In 2003, an American documentarian finds himself in Israel filming the denizens of a blues bar, Mike’s Place. No spoilers—the cover of the graphic novel has a suicide bomber on it—the bar is targeted by a pair of British Hamas terrorists. I didn’t know the story, or the actual documentary, Blues on the Beach, before reading this. While it is a fine glimpse of the daily life of Ashkenazi secular Israelis, it’s not very cognizant of Palestinian life and struggle. In the name of banishing politics from the bar, the author/documentarian fails to note the varieties of problems with his “hey bro’!” subjects: one lives on an illegal settlement in the West Bank, others revel in their military adventures, another espouses racist claims about Palestinians. The annoying bro culture of Israeli dudes is on full display. The single Arab barfly is a sort of ideal Arab (for Israelis), non-political, near silent. The bombers’ motives are reduced to (bad) religion, not politics. Satisfying but superficial.
October 10, 2015
As the subtitle says, a true story. Mike's Place is a blues bar in Tel Aviv, and was the site of a suicide bombing. The story covers the events leading up to--with plenty of foreshadowing--and including the bombing, as well as the aftermath, as life gradually returns to normal. By focusing on a single event in such detail, this graphic novel packs more of an emotional punch than a hundred nightly news reports ever could. At times harrowing, this book is definitely worth reading for anyone trying to wrap their head around the issue of terrorism. This project apparently grew out of an award-winning documentary, Blues On the Beach, which I'm going to have to track down. In fact this book is, in part, the story of the filming of that documentary, which was in progress when the bomb went off. Highly recommended!
August 28, 2015
This is everything I want from a nonfiction graphic novel. Learning about something I may not have known before, a compelling storyline, illustrations that capture the mood as well as the events, a moving resolution. I read it all in one sitting, putting it down wasn't really an option.
I do have a couple of criticisms - one relationship in the book was a bit too one-dimensional and soap-opera-y and didn't feed back into the heart of the story as much as it should have: it made it feel coincidental to the main events. But mostly this was excellently done. This is one of the better NF graphic novels out there and I will be reading the others recommended by First Second in the back of the book.
I do have a couple of criticisms - one relationship in the book was a bit too one-dimensional and soap-opera-y and didn't feed back into the heart of the story as much as it should have: it made it feel coincidental to the main events. But mostly this was excellently done. This is one of the better NF graphic novels out there and I will be reading the others recommended by First Second in the back of the book.
June 7, 2015
This is one of the books we're reviewing this coming week on The Comics Alternative. An engaging story, but one that is fragmented in places..but necessarily so, in that it's not the story of just one or two people but a group of friends/patrons of a popular bar in Tel Aviv. My only hesitation as to artistic decision is the representation of the Islamic terrorist. As the creators mention in the book's Epilogue, this is purely speculation on their part. So why include it, why try to focalize even tentatively through the bombers? What would this narrative been without those sections?
August 4, 2016
At Mike’s Place, the blues bar on the Tel Aviv beachfront, patrons -- both renowned and local -- gather to forget the conflict outside. At least, that's what indie filmmakers Jack and Joshua want to convey in their documentary; however, shortly after filming begins, the bar is targeted in a gruesome suicide bombing. Lovers of realistic and historical narratives will not only find this to be an interesting read but also the ways that the Mike’s Place family copes with their tragedy intriguing as well as heart-wrenching at the same time.
October 5, 2016
Teroristický útok je devastující událost, která zasáhne do života všech. Vzniká při něm utrpení, strachy, vztek, smutek. Bohužel z této grafické novely si neodnáším žádnou emoci – i po téměř 200 stranách mi byla většina postav lhostejná (i proto, že jich bylo zbytečně moc). Graficky nejde o žádné veledílo a kresba občas působí spíš jako črty, které někdo zapomněl dokončit.
March 29, 2015
The true story about a 2003 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, the first time such an attack was carried out by foreign nationals inside Israel.
March 14, 2019
Výtvarně mě zaujalo průměrně.
Snaha o podchycení nepolitického vnímání vztahů Izraelců a Palestinců hodně.
Snaha o podchycení nepolitického vnímání vztahů Izraelců a Palestinců hodně.
October 18, 2023
A true story based on the authors experience in Israel 2003
Dominique dying from the explosion broke my heart
This book gets you falling in love with every character and I love it
The book gets you to really focus on how bad the world once was and what people went through
When Gal figured out yanay died he coped with drinking and sometimes that's the only way grieving becomes easy
Page 123 there's a spelljng error I assume this book caused the author alot of grief so that's why it happened
"Love can't be beat"
"My heart is filled with love. And that's what makes me smile and that's what makes me so happy."
Sasha cheating on joshua with ehud after the bombing made me so mad especially after she said to him when he was tired to go home she shouldn’t be long but instead she got drunk and cheated on him and tried to use it as a excuse it wasn't even just kissing they had full blown sex and she had the audicity to say "please forgive me joshua I dont know how it happened the bombing has really messed me up" then when joshua gets mad she's like "don't be cruel to me!" Like cheating isn't bad
I dont think joshua should of forgave her like he did
Jack and frans relationship was so cute you can tell they were truly made for eachother especially when jack was in the hostipal/injured
Gal found out about dom and her roomate (dom and Gal were dating) and he approached lenny who knew about her fooling around with her roomate and started going off this book shows most of these relationships there were lies and untruefulness happening.
After joshua and Sasha parted ways I kinda wish we got more of a story of why he forgave her and if they ever kept in contact after they parted ways
"It's going to be okay you need to go home We both need the time to think about us,the bombing and everything" Joshua had mentioned even though I dont think Joshua should go back to Sasha once a cheater always a cheater especially as she made a excuse for it
I loved the graphics and art of this book and hope to read more by this author
Dominique dying from the explosion broke my heart
This book gets you falling in love with every character and I love it
The book gets you to really focus on how bad the world once was and what people went through
When Gal figured out yanay died he coped with drinking and sometimes that's the only way grieving becomes easy
Page 123 there's a spelljng error I assume this book caused the author alot of grief so that's why it happened
"Love can't be beat"
"My heart is filled with love. And that's what makes me smile and that's what makes me so happy."
Sasha cheating on joshua with ehud after the bombing made me so mad especially after she said to him when he was tired to go home she shouldn’t be long but instead she got drunk and cheated on him and tried to use it as a excuse it wasn't even just kissing they had full blown sex and she had the audicity to say "please forgive me joshua I dont know how it happened the bombing has really messed me up" then when joshua gets mad she's like "don't be cruel to me!" Like cheating isn't bad
I dont think joshua should of forgave her like he did
Jack and frans relationship was so cute you can tell they were truly made for eachother especially when jack was in the hostipal/injured
Gal found out about dom and her roomate (dom and Gal were dating) and he approached lenny who knew about her fooling around with her roomate and started going off this book shows most of these relationships there were lies and untruefulness happening.
After joshua and Sasha parted ways I kinda wish we got more of a story of why he forgave her and if they ever kept in contact after they parted ways
"It's going to be okay you need to go home We both need the time to think about us,the bombing and everything" Joshua had mentioned even though I dont think Joshua should go back to Sasha once a cheater always a cheater especially as she made a excuse for it
I loved the graphics and art of this book and hope to read more by this author
July 2, 2022
This book is stunted without much context as to the Palestinian situation at the time (let alone the ongoing terrorism experienced by the IDF). Baxter claims that he’s studied Islam but it’s clear from many situations in the book that his conclusions on “why” the terrorists picked Mike’s Place lack a critical analysis lens leading to a very myopic view into the roots of terrorism.
The myopathy is furthered by the central thesis that the venue is a “rare” place in the Middle East to drink and party sans political/religious talk (they’ve never heard of Beirut’s bars for secularists? Ok, I know, I know) and the characters’ consistent drinking to drown out the real-life issues of fundamentalism and oppression (on both sides) surrounding them. By failing to acknowledge this crucial bigger picture, drawing nefarious conclusions that the death of Rachel Corrie by IDF bulldozer was linked to the terrorists, and the tidbits about conspiracies make the book fall into a cloud of hasbara.
This book is filled with unspeakable trauma and grief, but the numerous characters are often indistinguishable. With a clearly one-sided view of the tragic event, it misses the mark of “peace accord” that it aims for. It’s no wonder that the related film was only shown at a list of Jewish film festivals, bolstering anti-Arab sentiment with subtle vindication of continued oppression which is a dead end to peace in the occupied territories.
The myopathy is furthered by the central thesis that the venue is a “rare” place in the Middle East to drink and party sans political/religious talk (they’ve never heard of Beirut’s bars for secularists? Ok, I know, I know) and the characters’ consistent drinking to drown out the real-life issues of fundamentalism and oppression (on both sides) surrounding them. By failing to acknowledge this crucial bigger picture, drawing nefarious conclusions that the death of Rachel Corrie by IDF bulldozer was linked to the terrorists, and the tidbits about conspiracies make the book fall into a cloud of hasbara.
This book is filled with unspeakable trauma and grief, but the numerous characters are often indistinguishable. With a clearly one-sided view of the tragic event, it misses the mark of “peace accord” that it aims for. It’s no wonder that the related film was only shown at a list of Jewish film festivals, bolstering anti-Arab sentiment with subtle vindication of continued oppression which is a dead end to peace in the occupied territories.
September 20, 2021
I have a feeling the documentary this book is based on would be powerful (haven't found a way to watch it yet), but the book version just did not resonate with me. Mostly I found the dialogue very unnatural - the characters are constantly referring to each other by their names and speaking their feelings out loud. I understand the reasoning for this, but I felt like the writers had no experience with the comics format.
I won't go into great detail about my opinions of the artwork since art is subjective, but I found the character designs unappealing and sometimes distracting to the somber nature of the events. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the "uncanny valley" effect of the drawings being slightly realistic, but not quite realistic enough. It's a high bar to use as a comparison, but I find Joe Sacco's work exploring similar themes so much more compelling in both the writing and the solidly cartoony drawing style.
I really *wanted* to like this book, but after reading other comics journalists like Sacco, Sarah Glidden, Nate Powell, etc., this one fell flat. I do want to track down "Blues By The Beach", though. I have a feeling the authors' expertise lies in film, not comics.
I won't go into great detail about my opinions of the artwork since art is subjective, but I found the character designs unappealing and sometimes distracting to the somber nature of the events. I'm thinking it may have something to do with the "uncanny valley" effect of the drawings being slightly realistic, but not quite realistic enough. It's a high bar to use as a comparison, but I find Joe Sacco's work exploring similar themes so much more compelling in both the writing and the solidly cartoony drawing style.
I really *wanted* to like this book, but after reading other comics journalists like Sacco, Sarah Glidden, Nate Powell, etc., this one fell flat. I do want to track down "Blues By The Beach", though. I have a feeling the authors' expertise lies in film, not comics.
October 15, 2018
I like this.. I did see something different in middle east, I even want to go there! I mean to Mike's Place.. I also follow an American Jew mural artist in Instagram, he currently (live) in Israel (which town, I don't remember), but his works also made me want to go there. I think it is a good idea to make this graphic novel. For me (who don't like read about war), making me want to read more about (specially) conflict in Israel. I've already had few books about it in my collection, I think it’s time to read it.
I intend to watch the film, Blues by the Beach, to get to know more about all of the character here. It should be in youtube😁
About the graphic novel itself, I just like it, enjoy reading it. How the story flow is so easy to follow, the people's character is very welcome.. They are indeed looks shallow, but you can see when people who still capable helping each other (passionately) when the bombing went off. I mean if I take the situation there as my point of view, the people character suits it.. Like.. live like usual but knowing (quitely) anything can happen, just live the moment.. The art is okay, but I have difficulty in distinguish some characters.. Haha..
I intend to watch the film, Blues by the Beach, to get to know more about all of the character here. It should be in youtube😁
About the graphic novel itself, I just like it, enjoy reading it. How the story flow is so easy to follow, the people's character is very welcome.. They are indeed looks shallow, but you can see when people who still capable helping each other (passionately) when the bombing went off. I mean if I take the situation there as my point of view, the people character suits it.. Like.. live like usual but knowing (quitely) anything can happen, just live the moment.. The art is okay, but I have difficulty in distinguish some characters.. Haha..
June 5, 2018
Interesting book from a unique perspective. This is my first graphic novel, so I wasn't expecting the depth that I found. The characters became real to me and their emotions and feelings were easily felt.
The story line took a very unpredictable turn with the bombing. Not that it wasn't expected, considering the title, but the abrupt corner it took opened up the story into a broader vista than the original direction was leading to.
There are some interesting subplots that could be followed. I'm not sure how the actual film deals with everything, but reading the novel makes me want to see.
A great read. Highly recommend it.
Dale Garris
The story line took a very unpredictable turn with the bombing. Not that it wasn't expected, considering the title, but the abrupt corner it took opened up the story into a broader vista than the original direction was leading to.
There are some interesting subplots that could be followed. I'm not sure how the actual film deals with everything, but reading the novel makes me want to see.
A great read. Highly recommend it.
Dale Garris
August 2, 2017
Everyone should read this graphic novel and then watch its companion documentary. This vivid retelling leading up to and occurring after a tragic suicide bombing in Israel is compelling and sheds light on the realities of which westerners can only feign understanding (myself at the front of that line). By immersing the reader in the process and lives of the creatorsof an actual documentary that was being filmed at the time of the bombing, the truth that life and tragedy happen in the middle of things becomes fully realized.
December 31, 2017
3.5 stars. A graphic novel created by documentary film-makers who were shooting a feature on Mike's Place, a bar in Tel Aviv. Their film was intended to show an alternate view of the middle east - one where people can hang out and be themselves without focusing on politics and religion. During the filming a suicide bomber wreaks his mayhem on the bar (which may have been selected due to the attention the place was receiving as a film subject). A recommended non-fiction graphic novel about life in Israel.
August 4, 2022
What a special book. I'm not sure how truly objective my five stars can be considering how close to home this hits, but I think Jack and Joshua perfectly constructed and brought to life the warm, familial atmosphere in Israel and especially at Mike's Place, and were able to describe the effects of a heartless and cold-blooded terrorist attack in a more personal way instead of turning to politics.
I'm happy to announce that Mike's Place hasn't changed a bit since these events almost 20 years ago. Gonna keep this on my shelf forever!
Can't wait to watch the documentary.
I'm happy to announce that Mike's Place hasn't changed a bit since these events almost 20 years ago. Gonna keep this on my shelf forever!
Can't wait to watch the documentary.
October 15, 2019
I've lived in Israel for many years and for me everything about this book (characters, settings, the way people speak, behave, etc.) seems very familiar and recognisable. The story is autobiographical and inspirational, without being didactic and pretending to have all the answers. It is not the most informative book, but for people who are curious about what the life in Israel is like, this is the book they should check out.
January 12, 2023
A compelling story but, I got a little lost with everything going on. I appreciate the multiple points of view but, I wish it had been done in a more succinct way. Definitely have to more research into the attack to grow my knowledge into the complicated landscape.
May 26, 2017
Loved this book!!!!!
September 21, 2017
My word. Devastating.
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