{"product_id":"the-cartoon-life-and-loves-of-a-stupid-man-9781739708191","title":"The Cartoon Life and Loves of a Stupid Man","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFROM THE AUTHOR OF THE CRITICALLY-ACCLAIMED \u003cem\u003eHANGDOG SOULS\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an independent comic book store owner and the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, Philippe Favrier lives a life that straddles the real world and the realm of fiction. Struggling with mental illness, Philippe relies on his wife, Marilyne - a successful surgeon with her own haunting secrets - and a groundbreaking drug his father developed. Bound by their shared pain, they navigate their haunted lives, forever shadowed by the heart-rending loss of their baby, Antoine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTheir fragile world begins to crumble when Philippe catches a disturbing glimpse of an unfamiliar profile in the mirror. And his uneasiness is further fueled by an anonymous comic strip that arrives at his store, featuring a character bearing an eerie resemblance to him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIs Marilyne hiding an affair? Is she connected to the comic strip that's tormenting him? As he probes deeper, Philippe is drawn into a web of deception, where the lines between reality and imagination blur - until his investigations into Marilyne and the malicious comic artist at last reveal the tragic truth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePRAISE FOR MARC JOAN\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'The absorbing winter escape of a read that I had been seeking'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePrashanth Gopalan, Strange Horizons\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Riddled with mysteries, the darkest of human emotions, and it is a book that will instigate curiosity, yet send a shiver down your spine each moment you turn a page'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIndia Today\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'I find the astonishing stories collected -- and arranged chronologically by historical era -- to be consistently enthralling, amazing, and powerful. They are beautifully written and filled with both sharp characterizations of conflicted, complicated people and rich, multi-layered detail about the states, landscapes, history, and lingering myths of southern India. . . . I recommend Hangdog Souls heartily to all thoughtful readers who long to be immersed in a fulsomely realized world that skillfully combines very old mythologies and phenomenally new reflections on what they can still mean'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJerrold E. Hogle, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of English, University of Arizona\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A complex and wildly ambitious novel which makes no apologies for bringing together contrasting genres and influences - from historical fiction to the Gothic, from intergenerational family drama to \"realist\" fiction, from supernatural horror to sci-fi, all infused with elements of philosophy, myth and spiritualism and conveyed in rich and beautiful prose'\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnds of the World\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Deixis Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/28\/2023\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781739708191\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 278\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.78lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.63d","brand":"Marc Joan","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44700367487157,"sku":"9781739708191","price":18.69,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_c572fa25-a016-4994-8e10-e4cce9273bdb.jpg?v=1728396862","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-cartoon-life-and-loves-of-a-stupid-man-9781739708191","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}