{"product_id":"the-book-of-human-insects-isbn-9781935654773","title":"The Book of Human Insects","description":"Toshiko Tomura is a genius; the darling of the intelligentsia. A modern-day Michelangelo, this twenty year-old is already an established international stage actress, an up-and-coming architect, and the next recipient of the prestigious Akutagawa Prize as Japan's best new writer. Her actions make headlines in the papers, and inspire radio and television programming. And like many great talents, her troubled past is what motivates her to greatness. She has the amazing ability to emulate the talents of others.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToshiko is also the mastermind behind a series of murders. The ultimate mimic, she has plagiarized, blackmailed, stolen and replicated the works of scores of talents. And now as her star is rising within the world of the elites and powerful she has amassed a long list of enemies frustrated by the fact that she has built critical and financial acclaim for nothing more than copying others' work. Neglected as a child, she is challenging the concepts of gender inequality while unleashing her loneliness upon the world as she climbs the social ladder one body at a time.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of Osamu Tezuka's most wicked tales, \u003ci\u003eThe Book of Human Insects\u003c\/i\u003e renders the 70's as a brutal and often polarizing bug-eat-bug world, where only those willing to sell their soul to the masses and become something less than human are capable of achieving their wildest dreams“Brilliant.  Just once, I’d like to read a work by Tezuka that  wasn’t either at  least nearly or totally perfectly crafted… A                                           typical complaint nowadays is  that the usual comic costs  about $4 and takes about 10 minutes (or less)  to read. But with  Tezuka’s work,                                          you’re invited  to linger over a  page for a minute, just taking everything in. One of  Tezuka’s (many)  skills is his deftness with                                           background details, with an  emphasis on lived-in spaces  that seem to have texture that you could  just grip.”  \u003ci\u003e—MTV Geek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “I suppose just reading a story like that could be repugnant to  some  people, but I found it weirdly enjoyable. It’s not like Tezuka                                           sugarcoats his lead’s  fundamental  awfulness, or blatantly asks that we enjoy it as she  destroys  people—even in that ‘hate the                                           player\/love the game’ way that  you saw all over pop culture in the  early 1970s. It’s most fascinating  to me as a big ol’ hate                                           letter to the emerging Japanese  post-war  generation, although Tezuka includes a vile war-era criminal in  the  book as well.”    \u003ci\u003e—The Comics Reporter\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Epic Tezuka is  back! As always, Tezuka builds long, winding  plotlines and then  brilliantly connects them to each other, creating a  massive but  memorable network of characters. This journey through the  worlds of  art, entertainment, crime, politics, and business also  presents a  deeper message about the dead ends and pitfalls of modern  society.  Tezuka’s ambitions can also be seen in the art, where wild  metaphors  and images jump off the page\" \u003ci\u003e-Anime News Network\u003c\/i\u003eOsamu Tezuka was born on November 3, 1928, in Osaka. He grew up in an open-minded family exposed to comics and Walt Disney. As a boy he also had a love for insects, which he would later as a grown-up incorporate into pen name. Having developed an intense understanding of the preciousness of life from his wartime experience, Osamu Tezuka aimed to become a physician and later earned his degree in medicine, but ultimately chose the profession he loved best: manga artist and animated film writer.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTezuka's manga and animated films had a tremendous impact on the shaping of the psychology of Japan's postwar youth. His work changed the concept of Japanese comics, transforming it into an art form and incorporating a variety of new styles in creating the \"story cartoon.\" Osamu Tezuka lived out his entire life tirelessly pursuing his efforts, passing away at the age of 60 on February 8, 1989. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn all, Tezuka produced more than 150,000 pages of graphic storytelling before his death. Posthumously Tezuka's work have won a number of awards in the U.S., including the 2009 Eisner Award given to his series \u003ci\u003eDororo\u003c\/i\u003e.","brand":"Vertical Comics","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48233632071909,"sku":"NP9781935654773","price":16.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781935654773.jpg?v=1767738468","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-book-of-human-insects-isbn-9781935654773","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}