Monsieur Lambert

Description

The fifth book by Jean-Jacques Sempé to be published in English by Phaidon, Monsieur Lambert is a gentle, sophisticated and unmistakably French illustrated story for adults. In this short graphic novel, Sempé shows us a glimpse of life in a small Parisian bistro. The restaurant and its regulars are vividly brought to life in a series of drawings which, together with the handwritten speech bubbles and laconic texts, display Sempé’s usual unerring eye and ear for the telling details of human behaviour.Jean-Jacques Sempé (b.1932) is one of the world’s most successful illustrators and cartoonists. He is the illustrator of the classic children’s-book character, Nicholas, and author of a collection of some thirty albums of his cartoons and graphic novels, all published or to be published by Phaidon. His world-renowned illustrations and cartoons are featured on the cover of the New Yorker and in Paris Match.

“Sempé goes about showing us up with great good nature. … his drawing is consistently delightful.”—Anthea Bell, Sunday Telegraph

“Drawings [that] are eloquent in every language.”—Quentin Blake, The Week

“[Sempé] is, par excellence, the master of the panoramic cartoon… Captions […] have been brilliantly translated by Anthea Bell… There are many talented French cartoonists. […] [Sempé] is the most universal… Sempé cartoons are a kind of illustrative haiku. In such small space he conveys a great amount of meaning… An infinite delight in the complexity and ambivalence – and the humour – of the everyday and the ordinary.”—The Independent

“[Sempé] started life as a journeyman cartoonist, drawing single gags. From there he has gradually broadened out and blossomed, acquiring colour and boldness and breadth, until it is hard to call him anything but an artist… You can’t really lose with Sempé.”—The Spectator

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