Carnet de Voyage

by Craig Thompson

Riding the international success of Blankets, Craig Thompson sets out on a tour across Europe and Morocco, promoting the various European editions of his book and beginning research for his next graphic novel HabibiCarnet de Voyage is a gorgeous sketchbook diary of Craig’s travels as he finds intellectual and spiritual stimulation amidst the day-to-day work of being an author. From wandering around Paris and Barcelona between events, to navigating markets in Fez and fleeing tourist traps in Marrakesh, we see glimpses of each place, rendered in Thompson’s exquisite ink line.

While desert landscapes and crowded street scenes flow across the pages, the sketchbook is packed first and foremost with people–other travelers passing through, the friends and lovers he meets along the way, distant figures of old friends and other cartoonists that freely weave in and out of Thompson’s subconscious. This expanded edition also includes a new epilogue drawn from his most recent European book tour, including several familiar faces and Thompson’s reflections on keeping a  sketchbook. Carnet is a casual yet intimate portrait of a celebrated cartoonist at a moment between works–surprisingly open and candid in his observations and revelations.

Praise for Carnet de Voyage

“Captures to perfection and with a great sense of immediacy what it’s like to be young, and on one’s own on a foreign adventure. By turns lighthearted and profound, Carnet is an illuminating and charming experience.”

– School Library Journal

“It’s Thompson’s candor in conveying what he feels in the moment, while still acknowledging his sometimes ill-tempered interactions and prejudices, that make Carnet de Voyage so engaging.”

– Pop Matters

“While there are all too many gatekeepers seeking to erect arbitrary walls between comics and “real literature” (whatever that means), Craig Thompson is undoubtedly one of the few cartoonists even the stuffiest academics would consider unimpeachable.”

Paste

“The sketchbook-cum-travelogue is quite a dreamy object… the book encourages the mind to wander. This is travel in its exploded view.”

– New York Times

“Carnet de Voyage witnesses a personal journey and a physical one, but manages to avoid cliché. Instead, Thompson’s sincerity shines through and he sweetly goes on loving the world even when frozen with anxiety and sadness. In these moments, Thompson and his work are the most human and poignant.”

– ComicsVerse

Hardcover
256 pages
6″ x 8″
B&W
ISBN: 9781770463080
Published by Drawn & Quarterly
$21.95

“A comic for anyone who has ever travelled alone… Clever, funny and disarmingly honest, it is, of course, predictably lovely to look at.”

The Guardian

More books by Craig Thompson

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