Synopses & Reviews
“[Delisles books are] some of the most effective and fully realized travel writing out there.” —NPR
Acclaimed graphic memoirist Guy Delisle returns with his strongest work yet, a thoughtful and moving travelogue about life in Israel. Delisle and his family spent a year in East Jerusalem as part of his wifes work with the nongovernmental organization Doctors Without Borders. They were there for the short but brutal Gaza War, a three-week-long military strike that resulted in more than a thousand Palestinian deaths. In his interactions with the emergency medical team sent in by Doctors Without Borders, Delisle eloquently plumbs the depths of the conflict.
Some of the most moving moments in Jerusalem are the interactions between Delisle and Palestinian art students as they explain the motivations for their work. Interspersed with these simply told, affecting stories of suffering, Delisle deftly and often drolly recounts the quotidian: crossing checkpoints, going kosher for Passover, and befriending other stay-at-home dads with NGO-employed wives.
Jerusalem evinces Delisles renewed fascination with architecture and landscape as political and apolitical, with studies of highways, villages, and olive groves recurring alongside depictions of the newly erected West Bank Barrier and illegal Israeli settlements. His drawn line is both sensitive and fair, assuming nothing and drawing everything. Jerusalem showcases once more Delisles mastery of the travelogue.
Review
“[Delisles books are] some of the most effective and fully realized travel writing out there.” —NPR
“Guy Delisle has entered the comics scene like a breath of fresh air.” —Joe Sacco, The National
“Delisle navigates politics and culture shock with a keen eye and gentle humor.” —Mother Jones
“[Delisle] puts everyones triumphs, tragedies and (especially) foibles on full display. Its journalism the way journalism should be: readable, educational and, hopefully, transformative.” —Chicago Sun Times
Review
"Delisle, a former animator, has a knack for visual shorthand ... and for drawing environments: religious shrines and settlements, but also grocery stores, playgrounds and checkpoints — lots of checkpoints. The cultural and physical barriers among the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities in and around Jerusalem, and the compromises and work-arounds the citys residents have been forced to devise, become the source of dark but gentle comedy: absurdity teetering on the edge of tragedy."—Douglas Wolk, The New York Times
"[Jerusalem] is a small miracle: concise, even-handed, highly particular."—Rachel Cooke, The Guardian
The tone of [Jerusalem] is by turns gently humorous and dumbfounded. His drawing style... suits his brisk, snapshot approach.—Financial Times
"Neither Jewish nor Arab, Delisle explores Jerusalem and is able to observe this strange world with candidness and humor...But most of all, those stories convey what life in East Jerusalem is about for an expatriate."—Haaretz
"Engaging...[ Delisle] highlights the very complex lives of Israelis, Palestinians, and foreign residents."—Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Review
“The cultural and physical barriers among the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities become the source of dark but gentle comedy: absurdity teetering on the edge of tragedy.” —
The New York Times“The tone of [Jerusalem] is by turns gently humorous and dumbfounded. His drawing style . . . suits his brisk, snapshot approach.” —Financial Times
Synopsis
"Neither Jewish nor Arab, Delisle explores Jerusalem and is able to observe this strange world with candidness and humor...But most of all, those stories convey what life in East Jerusalem is about for an expatriate."—Haaretz
"Engaging...[ Delisle] highlights the very complex lives of Israelis, Palestinians, and foreign residents."—Publishers Weekly Starred Review
Guy Delisle expertly lays the groundwork for a cultural road map of contemporary Jerusalem, utilizing the classic stranger in a strange land point of view that made his other books, Pyongyang, Shenzhen, and Burma Chronicles required reading for understanding what daily life is like in cities few are able to travel to. In Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City, Delisle explores the complexities of a city that represents so much to so many. He eloquently examines the impact of the conflict on the lives of people on both sides of the wall while drolly recounting the quotidian: checkpoints, traffic jams, and holidays. When observing the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim populations that call Jerusalem home, Delisles drawn line is both sensitive and fair, assuming nothing and drawing everything. Jerusalem showcases once more Delisles mastery of the travelogue.
Synopsis
“[Jerusalem] is a small miracle: concise, even-handed, highly particular.” —The Guardian
Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City is the acclaimed graphic memoirist Guy Delisles strongest work yet, a thoughtful and moving travelogue about life in contemporary Jerusalem. Delisle expertly lays the groundwork for a cultural road map of the Holy City, utilizing the classic “stranger in a strange land” point of view that made his other books required reading for understanding what daily life is like in cities few are able to travel to. Jerusalem explores the complexities of a city that represents so much to so many. It eloquently examines the impact of conflict on the lives of people on both sides of the wall while drolly recounting the quotidian: checkpoints, traffic jams, and holidays.
When observing the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim populations that call Jerusalem home, Delisles drawn line is both sensitive and fair, assuming nothing and drawing everything. A sixteen-page appendix to the paperback edition lets the reader behind the curtain, revealing intimate process sketches from Delisles time in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is a masterfully hewn travelogue; topping Best of 2012 lists from The Guardian, Paste, and the Montreal Gazette, it was the graphic novel of the year.
About the Author
Guy Delisle is the award-winning author of the travelogues Burma Chronicles, Jerusalem, Pyongyang, and Shenzhen as well as the 2013 graphic novel A Users Guide to Neglectful Parenting. He spent ten years working in animation, which allowed him to learn about movement and drawing, and he is now focusing on his cartooning. In 2008-2009, he accompanied his wife, an administrator for Doctors Without Borders, on a yearlong posting in Jerusalem. He lives in the south of France with his family.