Still Life Las Vegas: A Novel - Hardcover

JAMES SIE was born and raised in Summit, NJ., the son of immigrant parents, a Chinese father and an Italian mother. After attending Northwestern University, he lived in Chicago for many years, working as an actor and an award-winning playwright of literary adaptations. Currently, he lives in Los Angeles with his husband and son, where he works as a voiceover artist in animation, most notably in Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness; King of the Hill and Jackie Chan Adventures. Still Life Las Vegas is his debut novel, featuring graphic illustrations by Sungyoon Choi.

Sungyoon Choi is an illustrator and a comic book artist living in Los Angeles, CA. She studied Illustration as Visual Essay at School of Visual Arts MFA program. She illustrated the graphic novel American Widow published by Villard in 2008 and Mission in a Bottle published by Crown Business.

“Sie's debut novel is an often mesmerizing look at grief and coming of age...Engrossing.” ―Publishers Weekly

"An innovative and engaging first novel.” ―Lambda Literary Reviews

“Sie's first novel is richly imagined and beautifully written with a well-realized setting and memorable characters. Together they make for an altogether auspicious debut.” ―Booklist

“Still Life Las Vegas is one of the most startlingly assured debut novels I've ever read. James Sie's writing is gorgeous and the story is heartbreaking. I am in awe.” ―Augusten Burroughs, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Running with Scissors and This is How

“Still Life Las Vegas is powerful, comical, and it breaks your heart. I did not want it to end.” ―Diana Wagman, author of The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets

“James Sie took me on the most amazing ride. Intriguing, textured characters fill this debut novel. The charming illustrations compliment this gem of a story that will forever change how we see that (in)famous desert city of Las Vegas.” ―Noel Alumit, author of Letters to Montgomery Clift and Talking to the Moon

“Still Life Las Vegas is an astonishing mix of word and image, humor and heart.” ―Gene Luen Yang, Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of American Born Chinese

“Wildly inventive, emotionally raw, and brimming with palpable desire, James Sie's Still Life Las Vegas is as vibrant and unabashedly weird as it is elegiac. A truly visionary debut.” ―Gina Frangello, author of A Life in Men, Slut Lullabies

“With humor and a fresh literary voice, Still Life Las Vegas tells a family story that is unique yet straight to the heart. James Sie's poignant and funny debut, with dynamic illustrations by Sungyoon Choi sparkles with originality.” ―Elizabeth Crane, author of We Only Know So Much

“Vivid, romantic, complex, and utterly heartbreaking. Still Life Las Vegas exists in the beautiful space between the familiar and the extraordinary, with achingly flawed characters who crackle with life. Not to be missed.” ―Becky Albertalli, author of Simon Vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda

“A heartbreaking character study of a gay teen artist.” ―Next Magazine