Book Connection Links
Book Connection 2011
Kabuki: The Alchemy, created by writer and artist David Mack
NKU alumnus David Mack's graphic novel, Kabuki: The Alchemy, is the 2011 Book Connection selection.
The NKU Book Connection Program will turn a new leaf by featuring a graphic novel, also defined as a narrative expressed through sequential art and text. Graphic novels have been explored in NKU's academic departments such as English, communications and visual arts, and W. Frank Steely Library has an extensive collection holding literary graphic novels and superhero comic books, among others.
Incoming freshman students received a copy of The Alchemy in Fall 2011.
About the book:
The Alchemy is the seventh volume of Mack's Kabuki series. But it is a wonderful starting point for readers, as the character begins in a place that many people find themselves after graduating high school or college, a point of leaving their previous social structure to face the questions of what they are really meant to do in life, how to figure that out and what are the practical "real world" applications for making that happen.
A young former government and media operative, scarred physically and psychologically by her previous hierarchy, embarks on a new life to fulfill her own dreams and perhaps even influence the world culture in a creative way.
A beautiful mix of collage, graphic design and painting, the graphic novel chronicles the philosophy and principles of this transformation.
About the author:
Mack attended NKU for five years. At 17, he was awarded a four-year scholarship based on his portfolio of art works, and later a fifth year Dean's Scholarship for academics. He studied multiple disciplines in art and academics, including children's literature, world religions and mythology, anatomy and physiology, theater, world history, and the Japanese language.
He graduated with a BFA in graphic design (which included studies in sculpture, painting, drawing, art history, photography, typography and bookmaking) with an area of concentration in literature. The first published Kabuki collection, Kabuki: Circle of Blood, was Mack's senior thesis in writing.