Taxi! Stories from the Back Seat by Aimee de Jongh Review

Aimee de Jongh travels in taxis in LA, Paris, Jakarta and Washington DC and relates those experiences in Taxi! Stories from the Back Seat.

It’s a very simple idea but surprisingly effective and effortlessly compelling, in large part because de Jongh is such a high quality cartoonist. The drivers all have different dispositions and, over the course of their journeys, reveal something of their lives. Like the grumpy LA driver who refuses to speak to Aimee who eventually opens up about why he is the way he is, or the friendly Washington DC driver with the tragic past.

You also see the differences in culture, particularly in how much of a terrifying experience driving in Indonesia is given how reckless so many drivers are and how overcrowded/unregulated the roads are. De Jongh’s art is so appealing to me too, not least because she’s able to take you to that place and get a feel of what it’s like to be there - the pouring night rain in Paris, the bright Californian sun, the gusty clouds of DC. She’s such a talented artist - I’m always in awe of her skills when I read one of her comics.

It’s not a huge flaw but it’s a slight book, not just in terms of pages but content too. De Jongh touches briefly on racism/discrimination in her friend being delayed at the airport because he’s not white and the French/Algerian driver talking about the difficulty of being a Muslim in Paris in the wake of Charlie Hebdo. But these are quite superficial details that don’t delve beyond the surface - which is fair as taxi rides are only so long and you can’t get to know a person over the course of a journey.

I really enjoyed Taxi! Stories from the Back Seat. Beautifully drawn, well-written, and told expertly by someone who clearly understands sequential storytelling - this a fine comic by one of the best cartoonists working today.