The spirit of the Beats imbues the debut collection by Tim Lane, now in trade paperback. The stories are united by their sense of longing and melancholy. The characters populating them are in search of an increasingly elusive mythic America, the spirit of the frontier, of freight train-hopping, all-night diners and the cross-country road trip.

At times, Lane can seem a bit too in love with his own prose, especially given that his artwork is so good. His pen and ink style, reminiscent of Charles Burns, is extremely detailed and noirishly evocative.

Grade: B+



Abandoned Cars is currently available.