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Gentleman Jim
Gentleman Jim
Nov 15, 2024 9:25 AM

Author:Raymond Briggs

Gentleman Jim

First published in 1980, two years after The Snowman, Gentleman Jim has been unavailable for many years. We are delighted to bring it back into print as the first book in an occasional series, Cape Graphic Classics.

Gentleman Jim is the story of Jim Bloggs, a lavatory attendant who, dissatisfied with his station in life, devotes his time to envisioning a world beyond it. His walls are lined with books like Out in the Silver West, the Boys' Book of Pirates and Executive Opportunities, which provide fodder for his ruminations on career change. Encouraged by his wife, Hilda, also eager to incorporate more adventure into her life, Jim sets out to bring these dreams to fruition by accumulating various accoutrements, only to discover that the life of an executive, an artist or a cowboy is more complicated and costly than it appears.

Reviews

An extraordinary graphic novel memoir of a childhood spent growing up with an epileptic brother... Epileptic possesses a charm, rhythm and majesty all its own

—— Time Out

A graphics extravaganza...bursting with energy and wild imaginings, a comic tour de force that is as emotionally gut-wrenching as it is visually stunning... Epileptic is a masterpiece - perhaps the masterpiece - of the genre

—— Spectator

A work of deep, deep darkness and luminosity

—— Guardian

An astonishing, autobiographical graphic novel...it's very moving and...very funny

—— The Times

It is rare to encounter a project this honest and forthright about real human emotions. But saying that Epileptic is merely confessional conveys nothing of what makes it so special. David B. had scrafted the most innovative comics project of the decade. And probably also the most important

—— The Comics Journal

A tour de force to rival Maus

—— The Times

An adult and difficult story but [accompanied by] very simple black and white illustrations, comic book style, and it is exceptionally powerful...show the amazing power and depth that can come from a literary story shown through words and images

—— Ink Pellet

The magic of Marjane Satrapi's work is that it can condense a whole country's tragedy into one poignant, funny scene after another.

—— Natasha Walter , Independent on Sunday

Persepolis is a stylish, clever and moving weapon of mass destruction.

—— David Jenkins , Sunday Telegraph

Marjane Satrapi's books are a revelation. They're funny, they're sad, they're hugely readable. Most importantly, they remind you that the media sometimes tell you the facts but rarely tell you the truth. In one afternoon Persepolis will teach you more about Iran, about being an outsider, about being human, than you could learn from a thousand hours of television documentaries and newspaper articles. And you will remember it for a very long time.

—— Mark Haddon

I cannot praise enough Marjane Satrapi's moving account of growing up as a spirited young girl in revolutionary and war-time Iran. Persepolis is disarming and often humorous but ultimately it is shattering.

—— Joe Sacco

Throughout, there are magnificent feats of connectivity, startlingly complex internal monologues that unfold with perfect simplicity… I haven’t encountered a book about being an artist, or about the punishing entanglements of mothers and daughters, as engaging, profound or original as this one in a long time.

—— Rev’d Katie Roiphe , Scotsman

Lively, fresh and expressive…humane, complex and beautiful.

—— Anna Carey , Irish Times

Don’t let the cartoons fool you, this is an exciting and intelligent book and, at many points, highly moving. It doesn’t just tell Alison’s story, Are You My Mother? allows to you to think about your own.

—— Emerald Street

Find everything this author has written. Every jot she makes on the paper enriches the baroque, painful, exhilarating story she has to tell.

—— Candia McWilliam , Scotsman

It’s first and foremost funny, using graphical and verbal tricks to express the psychological dramas of an American household.

—— MacUser

[Sacco’s] ability to cram in detail is extraordinary. And it is the details that linger.

—— The Economist

When stretched to its 24ft length in the Saga Magazine office, we pored over it for ages. We predict you will want to do the same.

—— Saga Magazine

About Joe Sacco’s The Great War, one can write only essays or short, ecstatic sentences... A beautiful accordion-book, it unfolds on the Western Front, with all its monotony and misery: simple, but intricate; wordless, but vocal; brutal, but beautiful. A masterpiece of quietly affecting numbers, the thousands of lines, dots, and crosses that demarcate the thousands of lives, deaths, and crises.

—— Reggie Chamberlain-King , Quietus

The detail in this work is phenomenal, capturing the aloof generals, death in the trenches, and the wounded... [Sacco] makes visceral one of the bloodiest days in history.

—— Socialist Review

Wordless and brilliant.

—— Donal O'Donoghue , RTE Guide

Sometimes words and photographs are not enough… [An] astounding book.

—— Michael Hodges , Mail on Sunday

A unique and unforgettable experience.

—— Matthew Turner , Ask Men

A meticulous visual depiction.

—— Observer
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