Imagine Wanting Only This

Kristen Radtke’s Imagine Wanting Only This is a deeply personal graphic memoir from Pantheon, released in 2017 as a single, self-contained volume. Radtke both writes and illustrates this meditation on longing, loss, and the ruins—both architectural and emotional—that shape our lives. Blending reportage with autobiography, the book follows her travels through abandoned places and decaying towns, using stark, evocative art to explore how we make meaning in the face of impermanence. It stands as a poignant, critically regarded work of nonfiction comics, notable for its quiet, lyrical approach to grief and place.