Description
Book SynopsisThis is Monica, one ordinary woman’s extraordinary journey through the history of comics – from the creator of Ghost World
***AN OBSERVER BOOK OF THE YEAR 2023***
'Pitch-perfect... Could not put it down'
OBSERVER
'In Monica, Clowes reaches a new artistic peak'
VANITY FAIR
A dazzling, spectacular tapestry of interconnected narratives that together tell a life story, Monica is the new graphic novel from one of the most iconic storytellers of all time. This eponymous protagonist is a rag-to-riches character who, after being abandoned by her freewheelin' parents in childhood, succeeds in clawing her way to the top - only to lose it all in a stroke of bad luck. She lives out the rest of her days in search of her parents, encountering a cast of eccentric characters who help to piece together her story.
This graphic novel extravaganza is an unforgettable ode to the many genres that have defined the comics form - from war, romance and horror to crime and the supernatural. Mysterious, uncategorisable and quintessentially Clowesian, here is a multi-layered masterpiece born of a lifetime of inspiration. Monica marks the creative apex of Daniel Clowes' distinguished career, one of the defining voices of the graphic novel boom over the past quarter-century.
Trade ReviewA master. Perfect fusion of story and art.
Clowes is an auteur. Period. A superb narrator -- Guillermo del Toro, creator of THE SHAPE OF WATER
The year’s most eagerly awaited work... A book that’s philosophical as well as playful, and
one of his best * Guardian, *Best Graphic Novels of the Year* *
It is precisely Clowes’s lower-frequency sensitivities toward the suffering of his characters that power what many consider his greatest works -
Ghost World, for one - and
elevate his latest graphic novel, Monica, to the status of a masterpiece -- Junot Díaz, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Novel
A thrilling kaleidoscopic journey… Fans will need little excuse to fling themselves into this genre-hopping work. But casual readers shouldn’t fret. Monica’s story, despite being told in themed fragments, with gaps that sometimes stretch for decades, is full of drama...
A rich, clever work * Guardian *
The rare cartoonist whose graphic novels become cultural events * New York Magazine *
A new book by Clowes is always eagerly anticipated...
Monica didn’t disappoint… He gives us our own times magnificently disguised as a gorgeous-looking period piece * Observer, *Books of the Year* *
One of the most notable comic artists of our era, a pillar of the '80s-'90s scene who's continued to do great work up to the present day * NPR *
This strange and gripping book is often frightening and sometimes deeply sad. But it’s also wickedly funny at times…
A series of pitch-perfect portraits… I could not put it down * Observer *
Clowes' stories demand real attachment, and
the more time I spent with Monica, the more I felt moved by the emotional ambition of its decades-long narrative * Atlantic *
No cartoonist alive devotes as much effort as Daniel Clowes to mapping the differences between the way people see themselves and the way they really are * Guardian *
