Arsene Schrauwen

Arsene Schrauwen

<p><strong>Utopia comes with a price in this European cartoonist's graphic novel debut inspired by his mid-century colonialist grandfather.</strong></p><p>In 1947, the author’s grandfather, <em>Arsene Schrauwen</em>, traveled across the ocean to a mysterious, dangerous jungle colony at the behest of his cousin. Together they would build something deemed impossible: a modern utopia in the wilderness ― but not before Arsene falls in love with his cousin’s wife, Marieke. Whether delirious from love or a fever-inducing jungle virus, Arsene’s loosening grip on reality is mirrored by the graphic novel reader’s uncertainty of what is imagined or real by Arsene. This first full-length graphic novel from the critically-acclaimed Olivier Schrauwen is an engrossing, sometimes funny, slightly surreal and often beautiful narrative.</p><p><strong>Finalist, 2014 Los Angeles Times Book Prize – Graphic Novel/Comics</strong></p><p><strong>Shortlist, <em>Slate</em>'s 2014 Cartoonist Studio Prize for Best Print Comic of the Year<br /></strong></p> Full color illustrations throughout