The Book Tour
The Book Tour
By Andi Watson. Published by Top Shelf.
Softcover, 272 pages, B&W, 2020.
A page-turning, Kafkaesque dark comedy in brilliant retro style, this graphic novel watches one man try to keep it together while everything falls apart.
★ ★ ★ Nominated for the Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album: New ★ ★ ★
★ ★ ★ Official Selection of the Angoulême International Comics Festival ★ ★ ★
"Watson’s adeptness at capturing body language and facial expressions combines with nuanced dialog and a keen sense of irony to create a hugely entertaining page-turner."— Library Journal (starred review)
"A darkly humorous read." — Booklist
"Watson neatly balances moody atmosphere and light comedy... [a] deadpan funny riff on artistic insecurities." — Publishers Weekly
"Andi Watson's retro line and daring dialogue make this graphic novel a British delight." — Le Monde
"Packed with black humor. We were carried away by the tempo of the drawing." — RTL
"A real treat. Between Ionesco and Beckett." — France Inter
"Black comedy, delicious and scathing." — Télérama
"A little surrealist gem." — Comixtrip
"Andi Watson embarks the reader on an adventure that mixes absurdity and dark humor. It almost feels like a new Raymond Carver." — Franceinfo
"A fascinating maze in which we lose our bearings." — Les Inrocks
"A little masterpiece of tongue-in-cheek humor." — dBD
"Whatever the anxieties that led to the genesis of this book, they have allowed a beautiful exorcism... funny and chilling." — Trois Couleurs
"Andi Watson gives The Book Tour the best of his art." — Livres Hebdo
"Brilliant... a Kafka-like tale that immediately proves captivating." — aVoir aLire
"A clean line that gives full measure to a Kafkaesque atmosphere." — Canal BD
"Andi Watson delivers an offbeat graphic novel, with absurd dialogue recalling Monty Python." — Let's Motiv
"Delicious suspense that bathes in the absurd." — BoDoï
"A fantastic and breathtaking story." — RTBF
Upon the publication of his latest novel, G. H. Fretwell, a minor English writer, embarks on a book tour to promote it. Nothing is going according to plan, and his trip gradually turns into a nightmare. But now the police want to ask him some questions about a mysterious disappearance, and it seems that Fretwell's troubles are only just beginning…
In his first book for adults in many years, acclaimed cartoonist Andi Watson evokes all the anxieties felt by every writer and compresses them into a comedic gem of a book. Witty, surreal, and sharply observant, The Book Tour offers a captivating lesson in letting go. — a 272-page, B&W graphic novel with French flaps