Paul Goes Fishing - Softcover

Rabagliati, Michel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1897299281 ISBN 13: 9781897299289

Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly, 2008

Synopsis

"Free of self-loathing . . . [Rabagliati's] black-and-whie panels eschew half-tones for a spirited line." ―Voice Literary Supplement

This fourth installment in Michel Rabagliati's semiautobiographical series finds Paul settling comfortably into adult life, occasional twinges of anxiety aside. His graphic design business has taken off, his partner, Lucie, is pregnant, it's mid-July and time to leave behind the city to go fishing. Long lazy days stretch out while Paul's thoughts wander from the colorful characters at the fish-and-game camp to the
lurking depths of childhood, a Holden Caulfield–esque adolescence, and the encounters that have shaped his sense of family thus far. But the golden glow soon lifts off his vacation with the realization that the lake isn't as idyllic as it would seem, and neither is pregnancy.

Elegant composition and spare, condensed drawing crystallize emotion and atmosphere in this wistful and engaging account of
everyday hopes and hardships, told with a keen and playful sense of iconic detail. Even the mundane holds beauty and meaning in this compassionate story of expectation, disappointment, and wonder.

About this title

About the Author:

Michel Rabagliati is the cartoonist behind Paul in the Country (2000), Paul Has a Summer Job (2003), and Paul Moves Out (2005), which garnered
Canada's Doug Wright Award for Best Book of the Year.

From Publishers Weekly:

A native Quebecois artist, Rabagliati has chronicled a thinly veiled version of his artistic and interior life in his previous three books, and the present volume finds his stand-in, Paul, entering into adult responsibilities with his fiancé, Lucie, and thoughts of a child on the way. On a long summer break, Paul remembers his childhood vacations and his own upbringing and early love affair with Lucie. Meanwhile, Lucie has a very difficult time sustaining pregnancies. All of this is told in a matter-of-fact, somewhat flat manner. Rabagliati is an everyman chronicler in that way—telling the facts of a story with no artificial drama or hysterics. Unfortunately, this makes for a somewhat dull read. This slightly boring telling is redeemed by Rabagliati's wonderful skill with a pen. His cartooning is steeped in the clean-line style of Hergé and other Europeans, and he cleverly delineates characters and their environs in this simple, elegant and reductive style. It's a pleasure to look at, even with somewhat limited returns. Paul Goes Fishing is a fine graphic novel—not great, not bad, but firmly in the middle, with a sharp sense of craft and a warm heart guiding it. (Mar.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1897299281
• ISBN 13: 9781897299289
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208