For those of us who grew up in cities, skyscrapers were our trees and city blocks were our forests. With the streets as our rivers and streams we went exploring. The public transportation, like the commuter trains me and my cousins took everywhere, were our boats to get where we are going.   That is why in New York, you can normally tell who the tourists are and what they are used to. Their eyes open wide as they take in the city, and usually smile, when most native New Yorkers would not care to make eye contact.

The thing that is most fascinating about out-of-towners is how much they know about our city that most New Yorkers won’t. We rarely get to “smell the flowers,” as most people on their commute are focused about getting to their destination. Now being out of the city myself, I understand the fascination. In Ben Katchor’s Hand Drying In America he tells a few stories about the city and some things all people take for granted.

In “The Faulty Switch,” he gives a concise history of the light switch through the market research conducted to enhance its evolution. In “One The Human Lap,” he takes us on a historical and psychological dive into how the phrase “the lap of Luxury” came to be. In “Chapter 713, Sec. 51a: PEEPHOLES,” he dissects the irrepressible obsession of how they work and how it gains at least one on the other end, a sense of privacy. In “Riot Gate Style,” he ponders what re big cities obsession with having these types of gates on storefronts. In “The Current Occupant,” we get a story about an elderly apartment dweller, who becomes unruly and eventually is taken to a detention center. In “The American Coin Wash Co.,” he examines humans fixations on fountains and peoples need to drop coins in them, as one such company makes a profit of it every night in this one tale. In the titular story, he dives in the psychology of hand dryers and the almost OCD need to feel dry hands. In the last story I will highlight, “The Tragic History of the Oversized Magazine,” he looks at how magazines went form large print size to an almost handbook size it is now.

Overall, the graphic novel is an excellent collection of the history and stories that surround all cities. Katchor digs into what makes up our surroundings, something every reader can relate to. The stories and histories as told by Katchor are both interesting and illuminating. The art by Katchor is simple yet elegant. Altogether, a graphic novel which should be added to everyone’s list.

Story: Ben Katchor Art: Ben Katchor
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy