The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man by Joan, Marc

Description: FROM THE AUTHOR OF THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED HANGDOG SOULS As an independent comic book store owner and the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune Philippe Favrier lives a life that straddles the real world and the realm of fiction. Struggling with mental illness Philippe relies on his wife Marilyne - a successful surgeon with her own haunting secrets - and a groundbreaking drug his father developed. Bound by their shared pain they navigate their haunted lives forever shadowed by the heart-rending loss of their baby Antoine. Their fragile world begins to crumble when Philippe catches a disturbing glimpse of an unfamiliar profile in the mirror. And his uneasiness is further fueled by an anonymous comic strip that arrives at his store featuring a character bearing an eerie resemblance to him. Is Marilyne hiding an affair? Is she connected to the comic strip that's tormenting him? As he probes deeper Philippe is drawn into a web of deception where the lines between reality and imagination blur - until his investigations into Marilyne and the malicious comic artist at last reveal the tragic truth. PRAISE FOR MARC JOAN 'The absorbing winter escape of a read that I had been seeking' Prashanth Gopalan Strange Horizons 'Riddled with mysteries the darkest of human emotions and it is a book that will instigate curiosity yet send a shiver down your spine each moment you turn a page' India Today 'I find the astonishing stories collected -- and arranged chronologically by historical era -- to be consistently enthralling amazing and powerful. They are beautifully written and filled with both sharp characterizations of conflicted complicated people and rich multi-layered detail about the states landscapes history and lingering myths of southern India. . . . I recommend Hangdog Souls heartily to all thoughtful readers who long to be immersed in a fulsomely realized world that skillfully combines very old mythologies and phenomenally new reflections on what they can still mean' Jerrold E. Hogle Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of English University of Arizona 'A complex and wildly ambitious novel which makes no apologies for bringing together contrasting genres and influences - from historical fiction to the Gothic from intergenerational family drama to "realist" fiction from supernatural horror to sci-fi all infused with elements of philosophy myth and spiritualism and conveyed in rich and beautiful prose' Ends of the World BOOK REVIEWS James 5.0 out of 5 stars "A dark, gripping and moving book" 'I was certainly not disappointed by Marc's second book. Just as with the first, it combines exquisite writing with page-turning suspense. Sue 5.0 out of 5 stars "A beautifully crafted and disturbing novel" 'I found it hard to put down. Unlike anything else I have read and hard to categorise -disturbing, unsettling, entertaining, darkly humorous.' Katie Cossette 5.0 out of 5 stars "I love love love this book. It is so deranged and smart and creative." 'I would definitely recommend this to horror fans and those who love deep psychological stuff and unlikable main characters..' Ellen Taylor 4.0 out of 5 stars "A most interesting read." 'I'm always up for completely new styles of storytelling.' James Kingsley 5.0 out of 5 stars "Utterly magnificent." 'Joan is a master craftsman, every sentence is meticulously constructed, surgical in its preciseness .' Ira Smith 5.0 out of 5 stars "I was totally sucked into the book." 'well written and plotted, and progressively claustrophobic.'

Price: 34.29 AUD

Location: Hillsdale, NSW

End Time: 2024-11-04T23:40:01.000Z

Shipping Cost: 32.92 AUD