By Kay Sohini.
This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is an evocative and deeply personal graphic book that explores the complex relationship between a person and a place.
Through rich visuals and introspective narration, Sohini captures the intoxicating pull of a metropolis, the way a city can consume, challenge and ultimately shape those who surrender to its rhythm.
At its core, the book is a love letter to New York, a city that has long been mythologised in literature, film and music.
But while New York is Sohini’s muse, the themes in This Beautiful, Ridiculous City are universal. Anyone who has ever found themselves swept up by the pulse of a place, whether it is London, Berlin, Bombay or beyond, will recognise the yearning, disillusionment and resilience that come with making a city one's own.
Sohini’s artwork is as immersive as her words, capturing the grandeur and grit of urban life. The illustrations bring the city to life, not as a mere backdrop but as a character in its own right, breathing, changing and influencing the people within it.
The book does not shy away from the realities of city living, acknowledging both its magic and its harshness. Dreams take shape and are shattered in the same streets, yet the city endures and so do its inhabitants.
What makes This Beautiful, Ridiculous City so compelling is its honesty. Sohini does not romanticise urban life without acknowledging its difficulties. Instead, she embraces the contradictions, the beauty and absurdity, the inspiration and exhaustion, the love and the struggle. It is a story of longing, adaptation and survival, told through the lens of someone who has been both an outsider looking in and a city dweller finding her place.
Whether you have a city that has shaped you or you dream of one that might, This Beautiful, Ridiculous City is a book that will resonate. It is a testament to the idea that cities do not just house people, they shape them, break them and sometimes save them.
Thank you so much to the team at Vintage for sending me a finished copy of such a beautifully, graphic-designed book. The book is out now and available to purchase.
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