Hot Dog Diary

In the late 1990s, Nathan Tolzmann and his friend Matt 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 one state after another, keeping diaries to record the small towns, countryside campsites and eccentric museums they came across, and the vast space in between.

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. The book’s journey is augmented by occasional reflections from the older Nathan. 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.

"Nathan Tolzmann’s words and pictures capture the mundane and introspective moments of a humble odyssey with poetic specificity."
— Jason Lutes, author of Berlin