Over forty years ago, Yoshihiro Tatsumi broadened the boundaries of comic storytelling by employing manga's visual language to craft raw, literary narratives focusing on the personal lives of ordinary individuals. Often called "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics," his influence has reached cartoonists globally. Now, the visionary behind "The Push Man and Other Stories" and "Good-bye" turns his sharp, unflinching perspective on himself. Taking a decade to create, "A Drifting Life" is Tatsumi’s most ambitious, personal, and heartfelt work—an autobiographical bildungsroman rendered in comics. Using his lifelong fascination with comics as a structure, Tatsumi weaves a layered tale covering family relationships, Japanese culture and history, first love, the complexities of the manga business, and above all, the essence of being an artist. Alternating between humorous, enlightening, and haunting, this stands as the masterful culmination of a remarkable life and a legendary career.