Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay

Ben Katchor's Cheap Novelties: The Pleasures of Urban Decay (2016–present, Drawn & Quarterly) is a single-issue collection of his beloved, long-running comic strip, originally serialized in the New York Press. The book gathers Katchor’s signature, obsessively detailed black-and-white drawings and melancholic, witty narratives that chronicle the overlooked, decaying corners of city life—from forgotten storefronts to the detritus of commerce. As a definitive work from a master of the form, it solidifies Katchor’s place as a singular chronicler of urban entropy, blending architectural precision with a tender, absurdist love for the ephemeral.