Michael Cho

Corrina Park seems to have it together - a steady job at an advertising agency, a lovely condo in the city, and a pet cat to come home to each night. But the job was just supposed to be a temporary fix to pay her student loans and she's not sure why she's still there in such an unfulfilling role, the condo leaves her isolated from all her old friends back home, and the cat is more antagonistic than cuddly. In sum, Corrina feels more like she's going through the motions of life rather than show more really living. But she does have a secret penchant for shoplifting small, inconsequential items from big retailers, a petty crime that leaves her feeling confident and exhilarated.

This book wasn't on my radar at all until a friend purchased it for me as a gift a year or so ago. I'm so glad she did because I absolutely loved it. The themes of loneliness and confusion about where to go with one's life now are very fitting (and perhaps even trite at this point) for the target audience of young professionals, and Cho tackles them with a sly humor and a pathos that is difficult to describe in words (so appropriate then that he combines words and pictures in this book to complete his tale). This is definitely one of the better tales I've read about feelings of isolation in a complex world.

Other underlying themes address problems of modernity such as: fast but not accurate news media reporting, marketing unnecessary goods to younger and younger demographics, and how always being accessible via social media & etc. doesn't necessarily lead to greater connectivity on a fulfilling level. While none of these is new territory, Cho addresses them in both blatant and subtle ways through the illustrations, the character's actions, and the character's direct dialogue - a nice combination that works to continually strengthen and build on these themes.

As I've already mentioned the illustrations several times, it's best if I now describe them in a little more detail. Cho uses a very limited color palette - black, white, and pink - yet manages to convey so much by his combinations of these three colors. The images themselves are deceptively simple but full of meaning; they serve to both reinforce the text and expand upon it. In particular, the emotion that he puts into all of Corinna's actions and expressions contributes to that feeling of pathos I mentioned earlier. Small details in the illustrations serve to point out absurdities of modern life or act as symbols of themes explored throughout the book.

With this being a very slim volume, it's perhaps not surprising that the storyline resolves itself a bit too quickly and easily. Still, I very much enjoyed this book overall and am impressed by Cho's work. He is definitely an author I will be looking out for in the future. show less

This was a pleasant surprise that I picked up on a whim from the library.

What hooked me was a pink and black duochrome art style. The pink was neon and loud and I paused. Is this even readable? The colour was so loud, but I borrowed it just to see.

I deeply related to Corinna Park's story. She wants to be a writer but is writing copy for an advertising job. Stable jobs, no matter what they are, offer a lot to a lot of different people, but she feels unsatisfied with her life. I've felt that show more dissatisfaction too. When you're young, you tend to do that - to wonder if you've made the right choice a lot.

At times, this graphic novel was a little too real.

I saw where the author was going with the ending, but it felt a little abrupt. HOWEVER, the man illustrated it and wrote it himself and that is a mammoth of a job.

A quick read, and a nice palette-cleanser. show less

The two stars I've given here are solely for Cho's liltingly lovely artwork. "Shoplifter" is crafted in just white, black, and a hot bubblegum pink shade. Although I'm not sure the colors match the story, it's really wonderful art and I loved looking at it. The cityscapes and street views were especially well done (the one where Corinna is hailing a cab at night is my favorite).

That being said: this. Story. Sucked. I'm sorry, but that's really the most concise way I can put it. At first, I show more was really trying to relate to this, because I too am a Literature major and often worry about where I'm going to end up career-wise. But Corinna's worries were so very common that I found myself yawning over them instead of sympathizing with her. There's nearly no character development, and readers barely get to know Corinna other than what she worries about. Her whole "shoplifting" quirk adds, truly, nothing to the story. Lastly, I found that the ending was much too predictable and was very cliche. It was just a feel good, bow-tied-up-on-tip ending that was unsurprising.

So again: lovely lovely artwork I want to see more of!! The artwork is enough to make me seek out more of Cho's work! But "Shoplifter" just has a flat story and unappealing characters, and the writing is very basic. show less

I have seen Cho’s work illustrating works for quite a while now so it was a pleasure to discover a complete book of his art. And the story he tells of Corinna fits well into a sense of our current zeitgeist – the spirit of the time. We have all felt that sense of being trapped and alone in our lives, and the need to do something immoral and deceitful to add some excitement is so tempting.

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