To mark the publication of Building Stories, The Comics Journal featured a series of articles by the contributors to the 2010 collection of essays The Comics of Chris Ware: Drawing is a Way of Thinking.[13] Academic Daniel Worden described Building Stories as "Ware's masterpiece".[3] Academic Martha Kuhlman saw Ware's attempt to "document the multiple perspectives" of the project's characters to aspire "to a graphic novel on the scale of James Joyce's Ulysses.[2] Kuhlman and art historian Roeder find Joseph Cornell's influence in the box's design.[14] Roeder sees Ware's incorporation of the myriad forms of comics from the medium's history as "a miniature pantheon of comic art".[7]
Building Stories was named as one of the best books of the year by several publications including the New York Times Book Review, Time, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus Reviews, The Washington Post, Entertainment Weekly, and Amazon.com.[15]
Awards and honors
- 2012 National Cartoonist Society Graphic Novels Division Award
- 2013 Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize
- 2013 Cartoonist Studio Prize
- 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize, finalist for Graphic Novel
- 2013 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature, finalist[16]
- 2013 Eisner Award, for Best Graphic Album: New, Best Writer/Artist, Best Letterer, and Best Publication Design.
- 2013 Harvey Award, for Excellence in Presentation
- 2015 Angoulême International Comics Festival Special Jury Prize
