My first Will Eisner. The art is exquisite, but maaaan is this a bleak depiction of the human condition.

In general, I don't love narratives that are framed around whoever is causing the most pain. In these stories, it's often unclear which character earns this superlative - nevertheless, most are organized around broken men and the inscrutable or one-dimensional women who, like the God of the title story, push them toward their tragic ends. From this perspective, "Cookalein" was probably my favorite story - it's heavy, but felt more multidimensional.

I think the best art resonates even when the creator and audience have different worldviews. From that perspective, A Contract With God is a successful book - I found a lot to unpack in these stories, despite not sharing their assessment of human nature.

I LOVE this whole book! It's four short stories, all in graphic novel format, black and white.

I had to pick this up for my "Graphic Novel" class, before which I'd never heard of the book.

The stories here are really amazing. I really connected to it because of the Jewish backgrounds of many of the characters, which is something I'm not used to in comics. The characters were all very unique, mentally and physically (you could tell them all apart very easily, even ignoring their clothing). I loved the art style, and the way Eisner manipulates the story with just three colors (black, white and gray) is really cool.

This is a great read if you're interested in comics. Just be careful where you read it or who you give it to because it does deal with "adult" themes and is rather explicit at times. ( )

The first graphic novel.....or what is credited as the first graphic novel. While it wasn't a total favorite (I enjoyed one or two stories as opposed to all four), I can appreciate the history of this sequential art! The usage of the black and white images really worked, even though I would have preferred color. Truly, you felt the emotions felt on both the character's behalf and frankly, their convos with God. ( )

Graphic novels or non-fiction was the theme for the January 2022 American Authors Challenge. I was encouraged to try this one by its subject matter---life in a tenement in the Bronx during the early years of the 20th century. The copy I obtained from the library contained all three of Eisner's novels The Contract With God Trilogy and the author himself wrote the introduction, which was excellent, and made me expect a sort of Jewish version of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Not so. I found the characters to be more like caricatures; the women all either worn-out, bitter and frumpy or Barbie-doll man-killers; the men brutish and lustful or sly and conniving. The art reflects those qualities, and there is no subtlety in it whatsoever. There is also no hope or humor in it that I could detect. All in all, distasteful and not for me. TW for rape and nudity. ( )

Demasiado real. Emocionante. Conmovedor. Áspero. ( )