By David B. Published by Jonathan Cape. Softcover, 368 pages, B&W, 2005. Now in paperback, the stunning, award-winning graphic memoir about growing up with an epileptic brother. The most acclaimed European graphic novel of the last ten years, EPILEPTIC is David B.'s story of his brother's battle with epilepsy - but it turns into a penetrating and sometimes lacerating self- examination on the author's part, as he delves into his own complex emotions and his family's troubled history, as well as his own youthful fantasy life. Particularly pointed is his description of the family journey from one attempted cure to another, including acupuncture, spiritualism and macrobiotics. David B.'s drawing is utterly extraordinary, balancing literal representation and expressionist psychological distortion. David B. was born in France in 1959. In 1990 he was one of the founders of the alternative comics publisher L'Association. He began his masterpiece, L'Ascension du Haut-Mal, in 1996 and it was published in six volumes in France. The English translation was published by Cape under the title Epileptic in 2005. In 1998 he was cited as the Cartoonist of the Year by Comics Journal and in 2000 he won the French Alph'Art award for comics excellence. An extraordinary graphic novel memoir of a childhood spent growing up with an epileptic brother... Epileptic possesses a charm, rhythm and majesty all its own. Time Out A graphics extravaganza ... bursting with energy and wild imaginings, a comic tour de force that is as emotionally gut-wrenching as it is visually stunning... Epileptic is a masterpiece - perhaps the masterpiece - of the genre. Spectator A work of deep, deep darkness and luminosity. Guardian An astonishing, autobiographical graphic novel ... it's very moving and ... very funny. The Times
