120 pages, full-color, Hardcover, 6 x 9 inches
2 IGNATZ AWARD NOMINATIONS: Outstanding Collection + Outstanding Story
Foreword Indies Finalist
One of the Best Graphic Novels of the Year — Library Journal
"This new book gathers blackly humorous pieces (published in The New Yorker, Vice and elsewhere) that mix the surreal with the seemingly autobiographical — a Gabrielle figure who, say, visits a dreamy young dental student for a root canal, only to have her molars forcibly extracted by chatty mobsters later in the day. I’m reminded of what Benjamin Cheever wrote of his father John’s journals, their commitment to truth endlessly subverted by him as a “fiction machine”: “Give him a screwdriver, have him walk across the room, and he’d be holding a hammer.”"—Ed Park, The New York Times
"Memoir and fiction stand side by side, often in the same story, in this frequently hilarious, occasionally melancholy collection that affirms Bell’s status as one of the best cartoonists of her generation."—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
Gabrielle Bell returns with Inappropriate, a brilliant new collection of hilarious short stories. Meet Theodor, the human pet. Did you know there’s a third prince the House of Windsor doesn’t want you to know about? Join her on an expedition to find a 46-year-old spider. Oh and there’s a new version of Red Riding Hood… and scores of essential facts about polar bears. Gabrielle Bell revels in skewering modern mores with razor-sharp humor and wry observations. Inappropriate collects Bell’s best short comics form the last several years.
Gabrielle Bell’s work has been selected several times for Best American Comics and the Yale Anthology of Graphic Fiction, and has been featured in McSweeney’s, The Believer, Bookforum and Vice magazines. Her story, “Cecil and Jordan In New York,” was turned into a film by Michel Gondry. The Voyeurs was named one of the best Graphic Novels of the year by Publishers Weekly. Gabrielle Bell currently lives in Brooklyn, NY.
Praise for Everything is Flammable:
“Everything is Flammable is sometimes frightening, sometimes funny, sometimes incredibly sad, and always deeply engrossing. The center of Everything is Flammable is Bell's complicated relationship with her complicated mother-a person who lives a lot farther off the grid than most people's mothers. But there are many other characters in this book, and we want to know about all of the them. Bell is an acute and compassionate observer of her fellow humans.”—Roz Chast, author of Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant?
“No one but Gabrielle Bell can so quietly traverse a single raw nerve for 160 pages. Just brilliant.”
—Tom Hart, Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir
Praise for The Voyeurs:
"As she watches other people living life, and watches herself watching them, Bell's pen becomes a kind of laser, first illuminating the surface distractions of the world, then scorching them away to reveal a deeper reality that is almost too painful and too beautiful to bear."
— Alison Bechdel, Fun Home
"The Voyeurs is the work of a mature writer, if not one of the most sincere voices of her literary generation. It's a fun, honest read that spans continents, relationships and life decisions. I loved it."
— Chris Ware, Acme Novelty Library
"A master of the exquisite detail, Bell provides a welcome peephole into our lives."
— Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker
"One of the Best Nonfiction Books of the year."
—Kirkus Reviews
"One of the Best Graphic Novels of the year."
—Publishers Weekly
