Hot Dog Diary

In the late 1990s, Nathan Tolzmann and his friend Matt Bergstrom took an epic bicycle trip across America to mark the end of their twenties. Beginning from the west coast, they travelled along minor roads through the changing landscapes of small towns, countryside campsites and eccentric museums they came across. Some 20 years later, Nathan began an even more daunting project: to capture the entire trip in comic-strip form. The narrative is characterized by acute observation of images and events, achieving an almost haiku-like quality in its attention to the minutiae of the quotidian. Themes of friendship and the passing of time are reflected in the visual emblems of faded Americana. Exquisitely illustrated throughout, ‘Hot Dog Diary’ is a book that lingers long in the memory.