The Tao of Nao.

What happens when you make a conscious decision to fall in love with a lovable yet totally incompatible human being just because they look like your favorite animated creature? Nao Brown does this in a beautifully drawn and colored train-wreck of a graphic novel that brings into question the motives behind your own past and current dysfunctional relationships.

What happens when gruesomely violent or wildly inappropriate thoughts about friends, colleagues, family, or random strangers parade unabashedly across the film screen of your brain? Well, if you're like Nao, you feel a strong need to go hide in the loo and wonder when the day will come that finds imagination merging with reality. So don't worry. You're not alone. Start drawing some zen washing machines and you'll feel better.

Exceptionally drawn, beautifully coloured, and with a touching and original story. I loved everything about this graphic novel, it's a wonderful piece of art.

I read in in one sitting and am now fighting the urge to go back and read it again straight way.

Andrew was right. This is pretty darn good.

Really good read. I enjoyed the bits about Buddhism the most. (And Tara looks just like me!!)

The art in this was really beautiful. I do have to do more research, to know whether this comic suits the term graphic medicine. I also find the violent portrayal of OCD a bit conflicting. What message does this send? I didn’t understand the Pictor story that was woven into Nao’s story. But overall, this was a quick read with beautiful art.

I liked the art and some components of the story but I really didn't like the overall story... :-/

Une des meilleures BD...

I’m surprised I don’t see more people talking about how much the book dipped into feeling like a white guy wanting so badly to flex his knowledge of eastern culture. We get it, dude.

All in all, the book was all right. The story within a story was more interesting than the dramatic present. But the book doesn’t really teach you what it’s going to be until halfway through, and I’ll be honest—by then I was looking at how many pages were left, hoping it would somehow turn around with not much time left.

Not a bad book by any means, though. Thoughtful and kind. Great art. Great visual character storytelling. Just a little eye-rolly at moments. Dips into that weird trope of “woman having kid means life is happy now” thing. And again, I didn’t buy that I was reading the thoughts of a multiracial woman—I kept hearing a white guy.

BUT. It was okay.

This book is a startlingly accurate portrayal of obsessive compulsive disorder as it manifests itself in homicidal ideations. So, of course, it was disturbing and upsetting and sad because though it was fiction it told a story that is a very real struggle for many people. The artwork was beautiful. The characters were sympathetic. I confess to being confused by the ending, but I am glad I stepped outside of my comfort zone to try something new.