Shortcomings tells the story of a 30 year old Japanese-American man who is in a relationship with a Japanese-American woman. Though they have been together for years, their relationship is now on the rock as the two people try to understand the role of their ethnicity in their lives and relationships. The main male character finds Caucasian women to be more attractive than Japanese women, which his girlfriend believes is racist. The couple decides to separate when Ben's girlfriend goes away to NYC. After some failed relationships and one-night stands, Ben decides to follow her only to find that she is hiding her own secret (though it is an extremely anti-climatic secret). Ben discusses all of her personal issues with his Korean best friend who is a lesbian with a revolving door of girlfriends.

Though issues surrounding identity and the role of ethnicity in a person's life are certainly worthy of exploration, this graphic novel does not handle the material as well as other novels (graphic and otherwise). The characters appear insipid and shallow. Ben's best friend is portrayed as a stereotypical lesbian character with a new girlfriend each night. Ben himself is depicted as a "typical" male who tries to find himself by sleeping with and drooling over other women besides his girlfriend. His girlfriend is also a two-dimensional character who flees the relationship by literally moving away. The graphics are interesting and all in sepia which adds a melancholic mood. Still, the pictures are not that interesting and do not add much to the text.

Overall, I was disappointed by this selection and found both the text and pictures to be lacking. The theme of the story was quite interesting and in a different context would be a thrilling read. ( )

This art of this graphic novel is realistic, but not alienating, though it does explore themes of race, alienation, loneliness, and self-knowledge. As most graphic novels, it is a quick read, though there is temptation to linger over some of the more profound (and usually wordless) scenes. Overall, a great book. ( )

It was fun to see where some of this took place from the publisher's web site -- you get photos of New York & Berkeley and the drawings they inspired. ( )

This seemed very true to life to me. The author either was writing from experience or was channeling emotion from other life situations into this work. Very emotional and full of feeling. I liked the fact that the main character isn't always likeable - he has his faults and that makes him human. ( )

A thoughtful work from one of the excellent modern "comic" artists. ( )