While many works of fiction explore romantic relationships and family drama, not so many delve into what goes on in a creative partnership – and that’s too bad. The act of creativity is so vulnerable and personal that to share it with someone and build something together forms a unique bond and a unique relationship. More than a friendship and maybe deeper than a romance, the stories of these partnerships are rich, complex, and compelling.
Here are six titles that have creative partnerships as their main subjects. Immerse yourself in the lives of characters working together to create comics, video games, animated films, book writing and language translation and their struggle with the tedium that leads to the pride of bringing something new to the world – the work of delighting, edifying, and/or entertaining, and in doing so exorcising personal demons.
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Joe Kavalier and his cousin Sammy Clay are looking to earn a living in the Brooklyn of 1939. They combine their storytelling and artistic talents to create a fascist-fighting superhero and build careers in comics. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby.
Mel and Sharon meet in college in the early 2000s and form a lifelong bond of friendship and creativity, becoming critically acclaimed animators. They struggle with how much of their painful childhoods to expose in their work and to each other. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
An interpreter who works at the Hague toggles between the objective nature of her work translating high level discussions of ethnic cleansing and other crimes, and the deep involvement she has with the lives her coworkers, and her affair with a married colleague. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
What was it like to be at the cusp of the software and tech boom of the 1990s? Microserfs paints a poignant and wryly funny portrait of this time featuring the stories of six people doing their best to write code, connect with each other, and figure out their lives in California. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby, as eBook on Hoopla or as eAudio on Hoopla.
Katrina and Nathan co-wrote a bestselling book, then fell out, and haven’t spoken in three years. But they are obligated by their contract to write another book, so they meet up to figure out if they can produce anything together – or possibly rekindle feelings for each other. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.
The various forces of friendship, disability, creativity, tragedy and love pull at three people who meet at Harvard and over decades build a successful and quirky videogame company. You can also check out this title as eBook on OverDrive/Libby or as eAudio on OverDrive/Libby.