THE OPPORTUNITY
Book ID/图书代码： 09580015B83190
English Summary/英文概要： A modern-day Death of a Salesman, this thrilling debut graphic novel casts a spotlight on the unforgiving world of door-to-door salesmen.
’First thing I’m going to buy when I get my own office is a Porsche Boxster…’ Colin is an ambitious door-to-door salesman on the verge of ’making it’ as the owner of his own sales office. And the future is looking good.
But when the terms of his promotion change without warning, Colin and his team find themselves with just five days to achieve a new sales target - and to prevent his rival, Paul, from being promoted in his stead. Colin has to keep his disgruntled team from ’negging out’ while a gang of ruthless debt collectors are getting ever closer. Of course, everything is going to be fine, more than fine, in fact… but meanwhile, he runs out of coins in the phone box and the boss isn’t taking his calls.
As Colin’s grasp on reality dissolves, we see how the relentless focus on positive thinking - in the face of exploitative management, pay and conditions - leads to delusion, vulnerability, failure and, finally, human tragedy. The story explores how the philosophy preached by American business entrepreneurs can impact on an individual; a life dedicated to achieving one specific goal - how vulnerable that situation can become for some and how rewarding it can be for others.
Set amid the rain-lashed estates of southern England, THE OPPORTUNITY is darkly disturbing, stylish and compelling character study, surely to become a classic of graphic noir.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 作为现代版《推销员之死》， 改本来自本书作者的首部惊悚绘图小说将注意力再次聚向了登门推销员们不被宽恕的世界。
“当我拥有自己的办公室后，我要买的第一样东西就是保时捷的Boxter。。。。。。”柯林斯是一名极具雄心的推销员，并即将成为其所在的销售科的负责人。未来看似一片光明。
然而当他的升职条件突然毫无预警的发生了变化，科林斯和他的团队发现，他们仅仅剩下五天去完成一个新的销售目标---以及阻止他的竞争对手保罗夺取原属于他的升职机会。正当柯林斯不得不确保他不满的团队不被负面情绪淹没时，一帮残暴的催债人也在步步逼近。当然一切都会好起来，甚至会不能更好，事实上。。。。。。此时此刻，他已经没有可以投进电话亭里的硬币了，而他的老板还没有应答他的电话。
当科林斯转而努力抓住一次次现实的转机，我们可以看出在面对爆炸性的管理，支付以及条件面前，他是多么的执着于积极的思维---然而这一切却引向了一次次幻灭，脆弱，失败以及最终人性的悲剧。书中的故事探究了美国商界企业家们所推崇的理念是如何对个人产生影响；而对于一个致力于实现某一特定目标的人--那种情形又会变得多么的脆弱且不堪一击，同样的情形对于其他人来说又会突然变得多么的有利。
《机遇》中的故事发生在英格兰南部的一处雨中建筑中，该书是对人物角色的一次剖析，黑暗而躁动，紧随当下而又引人入胜，无疑将成为暗黑系绘本小说中的一部经典之作。 (DC)
Awards/获奖情况："A fine example of Brit noir illuminated by Volley’s sharp, clean and expressive artwork." Herald
"This is an impressive debut from a promising author." The Quietus
"A masterly graphic novel debut. He’ll be doing Batman next." --David Lloyd, co-author of V for Vendetta
"A great contemporary story and a powerful drama that reminded me of Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross." --Jake Arnott
"One of those gleefully painful reads... [with] tremendously accomplished illustration." --Page 45
"This darkly pensive character study is brought to the page with gritty visual realism and a broodingly atmospheric pacing. Another astute publishing choice by Myriad creative director Corinne Pearlman." --Broken Frontier
About the Author/作者介绍： 威尔•沃利曾于布莱顿大学学习插画，随后他成为了伦敦的一名故事版艺术家。他生动的短篇故事《海鸥》曾以图片漫画的形式被刊登在选集Negative Burn中，他还曾为菲尔•海斯特（无神论者）以及其合作艺术家约翰•马克利亚的故事执笔绘制插画。在经典漫画领域，他曾为J•B•普利斯特利的小说《玻璃侦探》以及莎士比亚的《罗密欧与朱丽叶》的再版绘制生动形象的插图，这些插图在2009年为其赢得了教育出版商协会颁发的杰出贡献奖，并随后变成了一系列相互关联的动漫。
漫画书创作者威尔•艾斯纳，大卫•马苏齐力以及大卫•罗伊德，剧作家大卫•玛梅特，哈罗德•品特，电影制作人斯坦利•科布力克以及小说家霍诺•德•巴尔扎克及艾米莉•左拉都对沃利有着巨大的影响。
Will Volley studied illustration at the University of Brighton before working as a storyboard artist in London. His graphic short story The Seagull was published in the anthology Negative Burn by Image comics for whom he has pencilled and inked stories by Phil Hester (The Atheist) and collaborated with artist John McCrea. For Classical Comics, he has drawn graphic novel adaptations of J. B. Priestley’s An Inspector Calls and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, which won the Association of Educational Publishers’ Distinguished Achievements Award in 2009 and was been turned into an interactive comic animation.
Volley’s many influences include the comic book creators Will Eisner, David Mazzucchelli and David Lloyd, the playwrights David Mamet and Harold Pinter, the filmmaker Stanley Kubrick, and the novelists Honore de Balzac and Emile Zola.
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Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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