as harrowing and profound as any literary novel. It is forthright yet disciplined, immaculately structured and so well worded that one is tempted to quote from every page. profoundly moving tale of a father's eternal love' reads more like a love letter than an obituary ' ' Hart shows off a talent for manipulating the subtleties of graphic art and storytelling. 'a book that resists description and contains manifold paradoxes: it’s visceral yet crafted it’s a meditation on loss and a celebration of life it’s a non-linear diary a ritual and a primal scream of rage and despair a paean and a prayer.' 'By far one of the most moving books of 2016.' its focus is the wonder you can regain if you leave your wounded heart out in the air and sun. (Nov.' the most moving comic about family and loss and the unimaginable since Maus. Agent: Meg Thompson, Thompson Literary Agency. Nonetheless, his sincere investment in the topic shines through on every page, bolstering the case that the process of writing one’s memoirs in graphic form is both artistically viable and personally rewarding.

If there is one drawback it’s, ironically for a book from a visual artist, the crowded and sometimes messy visual style, which juxtaposes Hart’s instructional text against large reproductions of graphic memoir panels, themselves filled with ample text.

Not only does this frankness lend credence to Hart’s advice, but it comes across as a quality one might find in an actual memoir, and not just a manual to writing one. He feels the resulting drawings fell short, but still hopes that the “desperation” and “struggle” expressed in them is visible to the reader. Most affecting, however, are Hart’s personal reflections on how the death of his young daughter affected his art practice, as he had to change his typically humorous style-“characters with big noses and big feet”-to approach the subject. Hart offers plenty of examples of other artists’ work, accompanied by practical suggestions for beginners. This how-to from cartoonist Hart ( Rosalie Lightning) ably sets its readers on the path to creating graphic memoirs, partly by tracing how the author made his own.

Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart