Clyde Fans

A compelling look at the life of two electric fan salesman, both brothers, by master cartoonist Seth. Clyde Fans promises to be one of the major graphic novel achievements of recent years. Seth is fast becoming one of the most recognized talents in the field since Chris Ware.

Book One of this trilogy focuses on the lives of two brothers and their fan manufacturing company. After one more disastrous attempt at selling, Simon returns to the office defeated and unsure of what he'll do next. Even after studying manuals on the art of selling, he still can't seem to clinch that final deal. In the eyes of his brother Abraham, he is a failure. Here, Seth brilliantly explores the complex and fascinating relationship of the two brothers behind Clyde Fans.

"This quietly mesmerizing book contains no jazzy bursts of color or tricky layout, no costumed superheroes or villains, no car chases, not even a single gun. Yet its subject matter is of vital importance. Like Chris Ware and Harvey Pekar, Seth creates art out of the apparent banality of average life. Part one, set in 1997, is essentially a monologue in which elderly Abraham Matchcard describes how he became an effective salesman despite his unsociability, how his father ran a briefly successful company, and how baffled he was by his brother Simon's futile life. Very little 'happens,' but as the old man's thoughts drift, readers realize how seldom people recognize the shapes their lives are falling into. The book's second part, set in 1957, follows Simon on his desperately uncomfortable attempt at a sales trip. Again, nothing obviously significant happens, which is the point: even when someone recognizes decisions must be made, actually making them may feel too momentous to contemplate. The effect of this accumulation of non-events, depicted in absolutely convincing detail, fascinates. Seth works with a restricted palate (blue tints overlaying the simplified but realistic brushwork) printed on beige paper, which gives the book a unique, antique feel. The formal portraits of the main characters that frequently stare from the pages are echoed in the book's endpapers, which show the Matchcard brothers among their high school classmates. Seth implies each of those faces might conceal a private, mysterious universe. That thought is simultaneously disconcerting and wonderful, as is this book." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Seth's drawings are lush, delicate examples of cartoon realism....These drawings...give the effect of having the narrator whisper in your ear, making Clyde Fans a wonderfully captivating experience and a masterful use of the medium." Dan Nadel, The Washington Post Book World

"In the masterful hands of cartoonist Seth, [this material] become[s] the stuff of quiet, desperate drama....[S]killfully rendered dialogue and elegant silent passages...demand that readers pay attention to Seth's simple yet suave drawings." Gordon Flagg, Booklist

"Seth truly believes in his wares — the little meanings of regular lives. Though it may take some time before the second Clyde Fans collection comes out, I am sold." John Hodgman, The New York Times Book Review

Clyde Fans promises to be one of the major graphic novel achievements of recent years, and Seth is fast becoming one of the most recognised talents in the field since Chris Ware.

Seth was born in 1962 in a rural Ontario town. Seth lives in Guelph, Ontario, with five cats, a gigantic collection of vintage records, comic books, and 20th century Canadiana, and his very patient wife. He regularly contributes illustrations to The New Yorker and The National Post and recently provided the entire album artwork for Sony records singer-songwriter, Aimee Mann.