F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Ezra Pound, and James Joyce walk into a Parisian bar... no, it's not the beginning of a joke, but the premise of Jason's unique new graphic novel.
Set in 1920s Paris, The Left Bank Gang is a deliciously inventive re-imagining of these four literary figures as not only typical Jason anthropomorphics, but... graphic novelists! Yes, in Jason's warped world, cartooning is the dominant form of fiction, and not only do these four literary giants work in the comics medium but they get together to discuss pen vs. brush, chat about the latest graphic novels from Dostoevsky ("I can't tell any of his characters apart!") to Faulkner ("Hasn't he heard of white space? His panels are too crowded!"), and bemoan their erratic careers.
Add in a hilarious sequence where Hemingway is lectured by an overbearing Gertrude Stein ("What kind of pencil are you using? You should be using a blue pencil, that way you don't have to erase, all right? Avoid captions. Don't ever write 'A little later.' You don't need that. The reader will figure it out."), guest appearances by Zelda Fitzgerald and Jean-Paul Sartre, and a few remarkable twists and turns along the way, and you've got one of the funniest and most playful graphic novels of the year.
Like Jason's acclaimed Why Are You Doing This?, The Left Bank Gang is rendered in full spectacular color. This is Jason's eighth graphic novel in six years for Fantagraphics, and his audience continues to grow with every acclaimed release.
Author Biography
Jason is Norwegian. This is his eighth graphic novel in six years for Fantagraphics and his audience continues to grow with every acclaimed release.
Critical Reviews:
Using only a few pages, Jason manages to craft two different stories that happen to star the same characters. The characters are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce and other literary giants as they live their legendary bohemian lifestyles in Paris. Except in this story they aren't writers but cartoonists, with comics being the height of culture in this alternate world. Not only are these writers now comic book creators, they are distinctly comic book characters as Jason has transformed them into his trademark anthropomorphic dogs and birds. As these characters contemplate their lives, Fitzgerald in particular is down and out. The book is a comment on the literary acceptance comics have been getting in recent years. All the anxieties these creators have to deal with are just as relevant to writers and cartoonists now as they were for the Lost Generation. Then, in a rather abrupt twist only Hemingway could be responsible for, the group decides to rob a bank, turning into a Tarantinoesque caper complete with different perspectives on the same chaotic event. Jason's clean, comfortable art and droll storytelling keep everything together through all the stylistic flights of fancy. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. 