JarinGobi | Munhakdongne Publishing Group, 2022 Written and illustrated by Noh In-Kyung Illustrated Essay / Illustration , 140*225, 136p
Gobi grew up with poverty as if it were part of the family. Fortunately, she found something she was good at early on — drawing — and now makes a living from it. Her principles are simple: work diligently, never insist on her own opinion, and always meet deadlines exactly.
Gobi eats two meals a day, both Kimbab. She asks for it to be sliced as thinly as possible, eats very slowly, and picks out the fillings one by one. All her clothes — even her underwear — happen to be black. Black has the advantage of hiding paint stains. One good thing about being an adult, she thinks, is that clothes never become too small to wear.
She walks everywhere, and when she reaches her destination, she calculates how much money she saved by not taking the bus or subway. She buys fruits and vegetables from the bargain baskets at the market, uses the public library’s air conditioning in the summer, and sleeps in a heated tent in the winter — all clever tricks that show her resourcefulness.
Gobi has a longtime partner: an editor who regularly commissions her illustrations. One day, the editor hands her a pack of cherry tomatoes, saying she bought too many and want to share them.
