Paying the Land

A powerful depiction of the painful history of the Northwestern Territory’s indigenous people… [Joe Sacco’s] comics have earned him comparisons to Hogarth, Art Spiegelman and Robert Crumb… [Paying the Land has] an astonishing sense of place. You can smell rock, pine and snow, feel it in your bones. – Aida Edemariam * Guardian Book of the Week *
Paying the Land is Sacco’s first full-length work of comics journalism in a decade, and it reminds us of why he is credited as a pioneer of the genre. His combination of authorial and narrative skill and artistic talent still marks him to from many of the cartoonists who have followed in his footsteps. His ability to move between genres and tones, often in consecutive frames, seems to cut across cultures, as his global popularity attests. Comics is a particularly effective mode for Paying the Land, enabling the reader to visualise an unfamiliar landscape and lifestyle. Sacco’s artistic ability is particularly striking here, especially in his intensely detailed group scenes. The white page allows him to demonstrate the vast snowy expanses of the land, and to show how it dwarfs human beings. – Alice Kelly * Times Literary Supplement *
Urgent and compelling… This is Sacco getting to grips with the story of America itself, the story that America tells itself… Tremendously heartfelt…refreshingly honest…always thoughtful and engaging… We are nothing if not greedy for new Sacco work. * Bookmunch *
Sacco’s nuanced interviews and intricate drawings capture an impressive range of voices, each searching for a route forward as the ice melts and old ways fade. – James Smart * Guardian Books of the Year *
Joe Sacco…has carved a niche as a comic-book reporter, which is a strange and unusual niche to have. It’s one he has made compelling… His drawings often seem more expressive than photojournalism could be, and he does what journalists do: he goes places, keeps his eyes open, talks to people and writes down what they say. * Spectator *
A reminder of why long-form comics journalism does things other non-fiction genres can’t. – Sam Solnick * White Review, Books of the Year *
The culmination of Sacco’s reportage on the Dene peoples of the Northwest Territories of Canada… he creates a nuanced picture, developed primarily through his interview subjects in their own words – Sophie Yanow * Observer, Books of the Year *
Sacco’s nuanced interviews and intricate drawings capture an impressive range of voices, each searching for a route forward as the ice melts and old ways fade. – James Smart * Guardian, Books of the Year *

Joe Sacco, one of the world’s greatest cartoonists, is widely hailed as the creator of war reportage comics. He is the author of, among other books, Palestine, which received the American Book Award, and Safe Area- Gorazde, which won the Eisner Award and was named a New York Times notable book and Time magazine’s best comic book of 2000. His books have been translated into fourteen languages and his comics reporting has appeared in Details, The New York Times Magazine, Time, Harper’s and the Guardian. He lives in Portland, Oregon.

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