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On sale date: March 17, 2020
Collects all three volumes of the Eisner Award-nominated graphic novels series, which skewers a self-important male literary poser.
Living in a beat-up motel and consorting with the downtrodden as well as the mid-level literati, Fante Bukowski must overcome great obstacles — a love interest turned rival, ghostwriting a teen celebrity's memoirs, no actual talent — to gain the respect and adoration from critics and, more importantly, his father. Van Sciver has created a scathing, hilarious, and empathetic character study of a self-styled author determined that he's just one more poem (or drink) away from success.
This expanded edition includes a foreword by novelist Ryan Boudinot (Blueprints of the Afterlife), a facsimile reproduction of Bukowski's literary debut, 6 Poems (thought lost to time in the wake of a motel fire that destroyed the entire original print run), a "Works Cited" section, and a selection of "visual tributes" by over two dozen cartoonists including Nina Bunjevac, Simon Hanselmann, Jesse Jacobs, Ed Piskor, Leslie Stein, and others.
Our web store won't be receiving any more stock of The Complete Works of Fante Bukowski, but you may be able to find it from a site like Indiebound or Bookshop, or at your local independent bookstore.
Praise
"[Van Sciver's] take-no-prisoners satire ends up being surprisingly sweet." — Publishers Weekly
"At its deepest, Fante Bukowski stands as a commentary on hordes of recognition-hungry artists with nothing to say, but as a straight parody, Fante Bukowski is hilarious enough to summon tears." — Paste
"Readers may cringe at Fante's clueless self-delusion, but as irredeemable as he might be, they're also likely to root for him just a bit." — Booklist
"Van Sciver has established himself as a thoughtful cartoonist with a talent for exploring the complexities of the human condition with a pointed sense of humor, and Fante Bukowski highlights the combination of desperation and foolhardiness that makes this character an especially compelling trainwreck." — The A.V. Club
"Van Sciver [has] struck gold with his masterful skewering of the self-important, self-proclaimed tortured geniuses who stink out the fringes of the literary world." — Broken Frontier
Specs
- Pages
- 452
- Format
- Hardback
- Color
- Full color.
- Dimensions
- 6.6" × 9.6"
- ISBN-13
- 9781683962854