Early in Kristen Radtke’s deeply resonant graphic memoir, Imagine Wanting Only This (Pantheon, $29.95) there’s a pair of subtly illustrated images that encapsulate the themes of the book as well as the impact of travel upon all of us who approach it with open hearts and minds. Radtke draws herself riding shotgun to then-boyfriend, Andrew, on a roadtrip to the crumbling city of Gary, Indiana: We view her through the passenger window of their car. But Radtke’s stroke of ingenuity is that, on top of the primary images of her face staring out the window, she draws translucent gray landscapes—the passing city reflected in the glass. The resulting effect suggests a movie being projected onto her face, a Maori-tattoo in motion, the passage of time and place imprinted on the traveler, incorporated into her identity. The layering of perception is a hallmark of the book. Radtke interpolates visual memories of her travels to the Philippines, Iceland, Angkor Wat and elsewhere with meditations on her family history; identifying and amplifying echoes between ruined cities and the decline of the human body. Seasoned travelers will also recognize Radtke’s evocation of the strange solitude one can feel spending long periods abroad: “My friends are all writing to me, jealous, asking about the town, and the wine, and the men. All I want to say is that I’m lonely as hell…there are so many expectations of what this is all supposed to look like—being happy, having an adventure.” A complex amalgam of poetry, postcards and personal essays, there is no “only” to be found in Imagine Wanting Only This.
