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ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: Paul at Home
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://michelrabagliati.com/
CITY: Montreal
STATE:
COUNTRY: Canada
NATIONALITY: Canadian
LAST VOLUME: CA 253
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born September 7, 1961, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada; divorced; children: Alice.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Cartoonist, writer, and illustrator. Has worked as a graphic designer and illustrator, beginning 1982.
AWARDS:Harvey Award for Best New Talent, 2000; Bedelys Media Award for best album of the year, 2002, for Paul Has a Summer Job; Bedelys Quebec for best graphic album of the year, 2003, for Paul Has a Summer Job; Doug Wright Awards for best book of the year, 2006, for Paul Moves Out; Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Cartoonist, 2010; Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec, 2017.
WRITINGS
Author of the “Paul in the Metro” short story, 2005.
Paul à Québec was adapted into a theatrical film of the same name, 2015, with cowriter François Bouvier.
SIDELIGHTS
Michel Rabagliati is a Canadian cartoonist, writer, and illustrator who works from his home in Quebec. He worked for decades as a graphic designer before returning to his childhood love of creating comic books. Rabagliati initiated a series of semi-autobiographical comic books about a character named Paul. While originally written in French, these award-winning comics have been translated into English and several other languages, starting with Paul in the Country in 2000. Through Paul, Rabagliati shares his experiences growing up in Quebec, his troubled childhood, career in the visual arts, and his family and love life. Rabagliati was awarded with the title Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec in 2017 for his contribution to and role in shaping Quebec culture.
Eighteen-year-old Paul starts working at a camp for underprivileged children in Quebec of 1979 in Paul Has a Summer Job. While he is not used to working with kids or camping, he realizes that keeping a positive attitude about the new experience will be important to succeeding. During the camp, he learns about his own strengths and weaknesses and even falls in love with a co-counselor. Writing in School Library Journal, Francisca Goldsmith pointed out that “anyone who has gone to camp … will recognize Paul’s plight and the sense of achievement he gets to taste.”
Paul Moves Out takes place in the early 1980s. Paul is studying at a commercial art school in Quebec and falls in love with fellow art student Lucie. Jean-Louis, the new art teacher, offers fresh inspiration for Paul and the other students, but he also adds perspective to Paul’s own appreciation of his regional style. Eventually Paul and Lucie start working as freelance designers and move into their own apartment in Montreal. A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented that “the simple moments of Paul and Lucie’s life are so universal, and the characters so likable.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor mentioned that Rabagliati’s “gift for clean, effervescently drawn panels and engagingly innocent narratives more than makes up for the occasional fallow patch.”
In Paul Goes Fishing, Paul and Lucie are now married and are still working as graphic designers in Montreal. While on a fishing trip with his in-laws, Paul is given the opportunity to get to know them better and also share a bit about his own life and views, and reflect on his childhood experiences. In the end, Paul realizes he doesn’t like fishing very much. In a review in Kliatt, George Galuschak “highly recommended” Paul Goes Fishing, adding that its “b/w art reminds me of ‘Tintin.’”
The 1990s come to a close in The Song of Roland as Paul settles into becoming a father and owning his first home. He is also struggling to adjust to his career as an illustrator as new technologies drastically change the way those in his field are creating. Booklist contributor Tina Coleman asserted that Rabagliati “captures characters well, even with few lines, and adeptly renders their expressions and personalities.”
With Paul Joins the Scouts, Paul falls in love after joining the scouts. His enjoyment is set to the backdrop of the political tension over the actions and rhetoric of the Quebec Liberation Front and also his mother’s conflict with her in-laws. Paul also gets influenced negatively by a young Cub Master-in-training. Writing in Xpress Reviews, Brian Looker found it to be “engaging, well-written,” and “attractively illustrated.”
In Paul at Home, Paul is now in his fifties and feels like he is in a rut. He and Lucie have divorced, their daughter is getting ready to move out on her own, his mother’s health is declining, and his views on his professional work are becoming more rigid. Paul struggles with inevitable change. A contributor to Publishers Weekly observed that “Rabagliati draws the exurban Quebec setting with panache, lavishing attention on vintage architecture and signage.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, March 15, 2008, Gordon Flagg, review of Paul Goes Fishing, p. 44; October 15, 2012, Tina Coleman, review of The Song of Roland, p. 37.
Broken Pencil, October 1, 2012, Matthew Daley, review of The Song of Roland, p. 61.
Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2005, review of Paul Moves Out, p. 317.
Kliatt, May 1, 2008, George Galuschak, review of Paul Goes Fishing, p. 30.
Library Journal, July 1, 2003, Steve Raiteri, review of Paul Has a Summer Job, p. 68.
Publishers Weekly, April 25, 2005, review of Paul Moves Out, p. 41; October 12, 2020, review of Paul at Home, p. 61.
School Library Journal, December 1, 2003, Francisca Goldsmith, review of Paul Has a Summer Job, p. 179.
Xpress Reviews, August 16, 2013, Brian Looker, review of Paul Joins the Scouts.
ONLINE
Michel Rabagliati website, http://michelrabagliati.com (January 17, 2020).
Quill and Quire, https://quillandquire.com/ (January 17, 2021), “Graphic Novelist Michel Rabagliati Puts Paul on the Shelf–at Least for Now.”
In French
Michel Rabagliati
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Michel Rabagliati
FIBD2016MichelRabagliati.jpg
Rabagliati in 2016 at the Angoulême International Comics Festival.
Born 1961 (age 58–59)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Nationality Canadian
Area(s) Cartoonist
Notable works Paul series
Awards 2006 Doug Wright Award for Best Book, 2010 Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Cartoonist
Michel Rabagliati (born 7 September 1961) is a Canadian cartoonist born and based in Montreal, Quebec. He was published by Drawn & Quarterly and is currently published by Conundrum Press in English, and La Pastèque in French.
Rabagliati has written and illustrated several semi-autobiographical comic books each furthering the life story of his protagonist Paul. The series includes Paul in the Country, Paul Has a Summer Job, Paul Moves Out, and Paul Goes Fishing, and The Song Of Roland. In addition, Rabagliati has published shorter stories featuring Paul including "Paul in the Metro."
In 2005, "Paul in the Metro" was reprinted along with other material as "The Adventures of Paul", one of Drawn & Quarterly's comics for Free Comic Book Day.[citation needed] In 2006, he won the Doug Wright Award for Best Book for Paul Moves Out.[1]
In 2010 he won the Joe Shuster Award for Outstanding Cartoonist for ‘‘Paul à Québec’’.
In 2015, his book Paul à Québec was adapted into the theatrical film Paul à Québec.[2] Rabagliati and director François Bouvier cowrote the film's screenplay.
Although Rabagliati said in 2016 that he would go on hiatus from writing and illustrating any more books in the series, in 2017 he admitted that he is working on a new book: "He’s in his fifties, the weight of grief and of the trials of life show in his face and in his general appearance. He’s tired, disenchanted, and alone. This book will be the most autobiographical by far and definitely the most depressing of the series!"[3]
Rabagliati started drawing comics in his 40s, after working as a graphic designer for many years. He cites the art style of European comics Spirou et Fantasio, Asterix and Hergé's The Adventures of Tintin as influences upon his work.[4]
Michel Rabagliati was born in 1961 in Montreal. Since 1999, he has become a key figure in Quebec and beyond for his graphic novels starring the titular character Paul against the backdrop of Montreal. His sixth book in the series, Paul à Québec, earned the Prix du Public at the Angoulême International Comics Festival and was also made into a feature film. Translated into six languages, Rabagliati’s comics have won two Doug Wright Awards for Best Book and a Harvey Award. In 2017, Rabagliati was made a Compagnon des arts et des lettres du Québec, a distinction awarded in recognition of his contributions to the vitality and influence of Quebec culture.
BEST SINGLE ISSUE
Eisner Award for Paul in the Country (2014, nom.)
BEST BOOK
Doug Wright Award for Paul Goes Fishing (2009, nom.)
BEST GRAPHIC ALBUM: NEW
Eisner Award for Paul Goes Fishing (2009, nom.)
OUTSTANDING ARTIST
for Paul Goes Fishing (2008, nom.)
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL
Ignatz Award for Paul Goes Fishing (2008, nom.)
BEST BOOK
for Paul Moves Out (2006)
BEST NEW TALENT
(2001)
BEST NEW TALENT
Harvey Award for Paul in the Country (2001)
Michel Rabagliati is a key figure in the Quebec comic book world with his iconic series “Paul”, which includes eight books and has been translated into six languages. He fell in love with the Franco-Belgian comic book tradition at an early age, via weekly editions of Spirou, Tintin and Pif, and created his first comic book at the age of 10. As an adult, he worked in the fields of graphic design, advertising, and editorial illustration, before returning to comic books. Since 1998 his comics have been revolutionizing what is called the 9th art form (comic books and graphic novels) in Quebec. In 2007, he was awarded a special mention for his contribution to the field by the Prix des libraires du Québec. He was also the first Canadian to win an award at the International Comic Book Festival in Angoulême.
Michel Rabagliati grew up reading European comics like 'Tintin', 'Spirou', and 'Gaston' and 'Asterix'. He copied his favorite ones: 'Gaston and Spirou' and 'Les Petits Hommes' (by Pierre Seron). When Rabagliati was fifteen, he stopped drawing comics and concentrated his creative talents in the field of graphic design. After studying typography and graphic design, Rabagliati became a graphic designer and illustrator in 1982. By 1997, he started drawing again. He published his first comic strip, 'Paul à la Campagne' ('Paul in the Country'), in 1999 with the Montreal publisher Les Éditions de la Pastèque.
Graphic novelist Michel Rabagliati puts Paul on the shelf – at least for now
CoverFeatureMay_Michel_cr-Richmond-Lam
(Photo: Richmond Lam)
Michel Rabagliati, the author and illustrator known for his series of semi-autobiographical comic albums featuring a character named Paul, recently took a stroll around his childhood neighbourhood in Montreal’s east end. Rabagliati has a fairly unassuming look, despite a bold pair of eyebrows that define his round, gentle face, and no one gave him any particular notice as he walked, even though his work has granted him a certain amount of local celebrity. Many of the personal landmarks he visited have appeared directly in the stories of his fictional stand-in: a hardware store, a bakery, the local public school. Rabagliati smiled as he took credit for inspiring a faded sign outside his family’s former apartment prohibiting the bouncing of balls against the brick wall. He became especially animated discussing a large courtyard that acted as a makeshift playground between buildings. “This used to be paved, but when a new landlord moved in he tore it up to plant a garden and installed this fence,” he said. “That was the end of the open and free-flowing yard. We used to be able to ride our Mustang bicycles straight though all the yards down the block. This fence screwed everything for the kids.” Rabagliati beamed as he sat down to overlook the area. “I haven’t been back here for a very long time,” he said wistfully.
Since 1999, Rabagliati has written and illustrated eight books, each focused on a different stage in the life of Paul, a fairly average Montrealer who, like his creator, grew up in a caring home, attended Scouts, went to art school, fell in love, became an illustrator, and started a family. The Paul books have been extremely successful in Rabagliati’s home province, where they are published in their original French by Montreal-based La Pastèque. It has become cliché to refer to Paul as Quebec’s Tintin, the boy adventurer who starred in a series of comic adventures by Belgian cartoonist Hergé. Paul’s face “is very simple, like Tintin’s,” says Rabagliati. “Round head, two black dots for eyes, simple nose, line for a smile. But for me, that’s as far as the similarities go.” Paul’s “adventures” are quite ordinary – he rarely leaves the province, let alone flies a rocket to the moon. A better comparison might be to the work of Jaime Hernandez, whose Locas series in Love and Rockets, the comic he writes and draws with his brother Gilbert, has followed the same group of characters, in more or less real time, for nearly 35 years. Like the stories of Hernandez’s Maggie and Hopey, the day-to-day events in Paul’s life often pack an emotional punch through their empathy and relatability.
Mining his own past has been one of Rabagliati’s greatest assets as a writer, but despite the joyful sense of nostalgia he expressed on his tour of childhood haunts, the past is something he’s ready to put behind him. After 17 years, he says his latest book, Paul Up North, a story of first teenage love and heartbreak, will be the last to feature his alter ego, at least for now. “My wife and I have been divorced for three years. My dog is dead, my mother’s dead, my father’s ill – my life is really changing and I’m not in the mood to tell that kind of story anymore. I have to do something else.”
*
(Photo: Richmond Lam)
(Photo: Richmond Lam)
Rabagliati grew up in the 1960s and ’70s in Rosemont, a historically working-class neighbourhood. His father was a “funny, jovial, and very affectionate man” who worked as the production manager in a typesetting shop; his mother worked on an Avon production line, and after raising Rabagliati and his older sister, took a job in a shoe manufacturing plant. Like most children, Rabagliati enjoyed reading comic books, but the insular nature of Quebec society meant “kids weren’t reading American superheroes. French and Belgian comic distributors were all-powerful, and magazines for kids, like Spirou, Tintin, Pilote, and Pif were cheap and easy to find.” Around the age of 10, Rabagliati began drawing his favourite characters into comics of his own, but his disinterest in learning the mechanics of setting up pages or developing plot lines left him frustrated and unable to ever finish more than a page or two of a story. “What I appreciated most growing up was the freedom I had,” he says. “The freedom to dream, to play, or just to do nothing.”
His father encouraged him to consider a career in typesetting, but Rabagliati ended up focusing his attention on graphic design and commercial illustration. He graduated from Collège Salette, a commercial art school in Montreal, in 1980, with aspirations of becoming the next Paul Rand or Saul Bass. “My dream was to do poster art for big cultural events,” he says, “but I didn’t actually get much opportunity, and did whatever fell in my lap just to survive: logos, printing, annual reports.”
As the graphic-design business became less handcrafted and more digitally focused, Rabagliati moved into magazine illustration, appearing in Reader’s Digest, Today’s Parent, and Owl. In 1991, cartoonist Luc Giard introduced Rabagliati to Chris Oliveros, founder of the fledgling comic publisher Drawn & Quarterly. Oliveros hired Rabagliati to create a new logo for D&Q’s eponymous anthology series, which exposed the artist to a new wave of English cartoonists, including Chester Brown, Seth, and Joe Matt, who were drawing comics for adults, and reignited his interest in the field. He decided to focus on stories from his own life, and created Paul, a lightly veiled version of himself. In 1998 he pitched a story to Frédéric Gauthier and Martin Brault, two Montreal booksellers who were launching a French-language comic anthology under their new publishing house, La Pastèque. The next year, Paul à la campagne (Paul in the Country) became the first book for both the artist and the press. “Right off the bat, Michel was very natural in the way he handled the rhythm of a graphic novel,” says Gauthier. “We felt, just reading his first pages, his way of telling such a personal story was very strong. It’s rare that you encounter all these qualities in one work, and it was all there in his first story.”
The song of Roland150Rabagliati chose not to tell Paul’s story in a linear fashion: Paul is a father reflecting on his own youth though the eyes of his young daughter in Paul in the Country; a surly teen worried about his future prospects in Paul Has a Summer Job; a naive art-school student in Paul Moves Out; and a young man trying to start a family of his own in Paul Goes Fishing. All of Paul’s stories are based closely on experiences in Rabagliati’s own life. “I add a little fiction to make things more interesting, but only a little,” he says. “I re-sequence my real events to amplify the dramatic effect. It’s important for me that the reader is having a good time reading my stories. Straight-ahead autobiography doesn’t especially interest me.”
Drawn & Quarterly published the short story “Paul: Apprentice Typographer,” which originally appeared as a backup in Paul à la campagne, in its anthology in 2000, and signed on as Rabagliati’s English publisher, releasing Paul in the Country the same year. D&Q followed La Pastèque with English editions of three more Paul books between 2003 and 2008, but passed on 2009’s Paul à Québec, which focuses on the life and death of Paul’s/Rabagliati’s father-in-law. It also is slightly more Quebec-centric than previous books, with multiple references to the sovereignty movement. D&Q “opted out because they felt anglophones would have trouble grasping the Quebec spirit, the humour and everything,” Rabagliati says. “I’ve always found that a strange and mysterious decision because, in fact, it was my greatest success.”
Gauthier approached Andy Brown, publisher of Conundrum Press, who worked out a deal with Rabagliati for English rights to the story, which was published in 2012 as The Song of Roland. The book sold more than 50,000 copies in both French and English combined, and won numerous awards, including the Doug Wright, the Joe Shuster, and the Angoulême International Comics Festival’s audience choice award. “He’s one of my top sellers,” says Brown, who has remained Rabagliati’s English publisher, following The Song of Roland with Paul Joins the Scouts in 2013, and the recently released Paul Up North. D&Q’s reservations are not entirely unwarranted, as the Paul books continue to sell significantly less well in English than in French. “We’ve been asking ourselves a long time why it doesn’t translate more into sales in the English market,” says Gauthier. “Michel has always written very emotional stories and has a very enthusiastic approach in life. Maybe that’s something that’s difficult for English readers to connect with.”
*
In 2010, Rabagliati contacted director and producer François Bouvier to see if he’d be interested in adapting Paul for the screen. He was, and they began co-writing a script based on Paul à Québec. The film, released last fall by Caramel Film, starred French actor and writer François Létourneau as Paul, and featured a moving performance by Genie-nominated Gilbert Sicotte as Roland. Rabagliati made a small cameo in the movie, and appeared as Létourneau’s hand double whenever Paul was required to sketch. (“When they needed me, they’d yell, ‘The hand!’”) The film was both a critical and commercial hit in Quebec, grossing $1.4 million at the box office in 2015. Bouvier “really respected the tone and the humour,” Rabagliati says. “I’m really satisfied with the movie. But I didn’t really like the experience. I’m not a team worker. Plus, Paul à Québec tells the story of my ex-family and my ex-father-in-law, so it was really hard for me. When we started writing I’d just divorced. I really didn’t want to hear about all that stuff. It was too heartbreaking.”
Rabagliati has reached a level of success with Paul he never anticipated. Stories he expected to appeal only to middle-aged men have – like those of a certain boy adventurer – found an audience of readers from ages seven to 77. “Everything about his stories reminds Quebecers of themselves,” says Brown. “Also, he doesn’t write in French French – it’s Québécois French, and people in Quebec don’t usually see that.” Sales of the French editions alone have sold nearly half a million copies combined, buoyed in part by the same provincialism that spawned Rabagliati’s interest in comics as a child: after he appeared on a popular local talk show to promote Paul à Québec, sales of the book jumped by 5,000 copies in just a few days.
Rabagliati says he isn’t afraid to set aside his popular creation. He expects his next book to feature an unnamed, middle-aged character, and little dialogue. “That’s where I am right now in life,” he says. “It might not be very funny, but that’s what I think I feel like doing. I’d like to do something 500 pages long and work for six years on just one project.” He doesn’t rule out returning to Paul someday, once he’s had some distance from his old stories. “I’d like to write a story where Paul is 55 years old, but I’m not that eager to keep talking about myself for the rest of my days. I knew that at a point I wouldn’t have any more stories. Now I guess I have to leave that character on the shelf.”
Rabagliati, Michel (text & illus.). Paul Joins the Scouts. BDANG: Conundrum. 2013. 172p. tr. from French by Helge Dascher. ISBN 9781894994699. pap. $20.
The English translation of French-Canadian Rabagliati's (Song of Roland) semiautobiographical adventures of Paul is just as enjoyable as previous outings. Rabagliati weaves story lines of Paul joining the scouts and falling in love with those of the tense political environment created by the Quebec Liberation Front, family clashes between Paul's mother and her in-laws, and one young Cub Master-in-training, whose political leanings get him into trouble. Each Cub Master gets a one-page vignette, and Rabagliati expertly crafts deep characters with a few frames. The black-and-white retro style features detailed backgrounds and easily distinguishable characters.
Verdict These engaging, well-written, attractively illustrated stories will be enjoyed by any graphic novel reader. [The French edition, Paul au Parc, was nominated for a Shuster Award, a youth award at the 2012 Angouleme Festival, and Friends of the Library Award in Montreal.--Ed.]--Brian Looker, Appleton P.L., WI
Looker, Brian
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Library Journals, LLC
http://www.libraryjournal.com/lj/reviews/xpress/884170-289/xpress_reviews-first_look_at_new.html.csp
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Looker, Brian. "Rabagliati, Michel (text & illus.). Paul Joins the Scouts." Xpress Reviews, 16 Aug. 2013. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A344393687/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=d56a7c85. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
tr. from French by Helge Dascher. illus. by author. 145p. notes. Drawn & Quarterly. 2003. pap. $16.95. ISBN 1-896597-54-8. LC number unavailable.
Adult/High School--In 1979, Paul, 18, lands an unexpected job at a camp for underprivileged children. Accustomed neither to roughing it nor to youngsters, he knows that he is unprepared but falls to with a will and an open heart. Over the course of the summer on a Quebec lake, he learns about his own strengths, discovers the unaffected charms of 9- to 14-year-olds, and falls in love with a co-counselor. Subplots involve overcoming physical and emotional fears and the reality of shepherding a blind child through camp experiences. The ending brings the protagonist back to the site of the camp 20 years later. Paul and his fellow teens act responsibly with the children but are prone to partying between sessions; they are able to cope with emergencies, and they experience the death of one counselor's parent. The story unfolds with quirky black-ink drawings and natural-sounding dialogue. The images bounce with physical energy and depict the brightness and darkness of the teen's moods. Endnotes offer readers in the U.S. helpful information for interpreting Quebecois swearing and references to pop idols of the place and time. Anyone who has gone to camp, or taken on a job with the knowledge that it seems unworkable, will recognize Paul's plight and the sense of achievement he gets to taste.--Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Goldsmith, Francisca
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
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Goldsmith, Francisca. "Rabagliati, Michel. Paul Has a Summer Job." School Library Journal, vol. 49, no. 12, Dec. 2003, p. 179. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A112131838/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=07fa495e. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Michel Rabagliati, 192 pgs, Conundrum Press, conundrumpress.com, $20
Paul moves to a new publisher (Conundrum) for The Song of Roland, Quebec cartoonist Michel Rabagliati's fifth English edition in the "Paul" series. Taking place at the tail end of the '90s into the early '00s, the story finds Paul (Rabagliati's comic alter-ego) settling into fatherhood, the changing technological demands of his illustration career and the new responsibilities of home ownership. In the midst of this, his father-in-law, Roland, is diagnosed with terminal cancer. As his family comes together to support him in his final months, Roland's life story as a self-made man rising out of poverty in mid 20th-century Quebec is revealed and reflected upon--warts and all. It's a fascinating, often bittersweet portrait of a deeply stubborn yet respected individual.
As is the case with all of his books thus far, Rabagliati's artwork is wonderful, balancing the simplicity of the characters with an incredible eye for small background details. Whether he's capturing the absurdity of a roadside restaurant or a quiet sequence where Paul and his daughter Rose drive to the palliative care center, Rabagliati creates a world that feels alive. I've heard people dismiss his work for being too sentimental or even "too Quebec," but I feel that it's these qualities that have made the Paul stories continuously worth reading and make me continue to look forward to future chapters. (Matthew Daley)
Daley, Matthew
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2012 Broken Pencil
http://www.brokenpencil.com
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Daley, Matthew. "The Song of Roland." Broken Pencil, no. 57, Oct. 2012, p. 61. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A309730034/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=8143f241. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Drawn & Quarterly. 2003. c.152p. tr. from French by Helge Dascher. ISBN 1-896597-54-8. pap. $16.95. F
When Paul is thrown off an after-school art project by his overbearing principal because of poor grades, he quits high school and gets a job at a print shop. Then a friend offers him a position as counselor and rock-climbing instructor at a summer camp for underprivileged kids, which he accepts despite having no experience with kids or rock climbing. This realistic and touching book tells the story of that job, as Paul finds a community among the ragtag camp staff, yells at and bonds with the kids, and starts to grow into an adult. The story is told with cartoony black-and-white art by French Canadian creator Rabagliati, who won the Harvey Award for Best New Talent in 2000 and was nominated for an Eisner Award for his earlier comic book Paul in the Country. Another GN about Paul is in the works. A few things about this book may prove troublesome if it's placed in young adult collections, including some bad language and an unfortunate scene of Paul's landlady "fingering herself and hopping around like a monkey in heat," but it's highly recommended for older teens and adults.
Steve Raiteri is Audiovisual and Reference Librarian at the Greene County Public Library in Xenia, OH, where he started the graphic novel collection in 1996. He posts his Recommended Graphic Novels for Public Libraries at my.voyager.net/~sraiteri/graphicnovels.htm
Raiteri, Steve
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2003 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
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Raiteri, Steve. "Rabagliati, Michel. Paul Has a Summer Job." Library Journal, vol. 128, no. 12, July 2003, p. 68+. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A105517649/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=af5d3aa6. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Rabagliati, Michel PAUL MOVES OUT Drawn & Quarterly (120 pp.) $19.95 May 1, 2005 ISBN: 1-896597-87-4
A Montreal art student finds love and a career in an unassuming graphic novel.
As in his Paul Has a Summer Job (2003), Rabagliati doesn't aim for the big targets, and his output is all the better for it. His barely veiled recollections of his younger years---one wonders why he bothers changing his protagonist's first name--are small, tightly focused narratives that eschew the larger world for intimate portraits and yet manage to avoid any sort of navel-gazing. This time around, Rabagliati details what happens before and after his character, well, moves out of his parents' home. In 1979, Paul is a student at a commercial art school, and though he's somewhat withdrawn behind goatee and longish hair, it doesn't take much for fellow student Lucie to work her way into his heart. As their romance shyly blunders forward, the class is reinvigorated in its work by the arrival of a flamboyant and boundary-smashing new teacher, Jean-Louis, who comes bearing the standard of graphic design in all its bold new form York, an experience that for all the fascination it engenders in Paul, only seems to reinforce his provincial Montreal attitudes. Soon, it's 1983 and Paul and Lucie have moved into their starter apartment and their lives as freelance designers, a period of time that Rabagliati renders in a mood of easygoing whimsy that would be unbearably cloying were the medium straight fiction or memoir. Although there isn't much that really stands in the way of Paul and Lucie's forward movement as a couple--besides the occasional hitch, a relative's funeral, or the unspoken tension that comes from a sudden desire to have children--Rabagliati knows he doesn't have to resort to such measures. His gift for clean, effervescently drawn panels and engagingly innocent narratives more than makes up for the occasional fallow patch.
A growing-into-adulthood story told with lovable buoyancy.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2005 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
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"Rabagliati, Michel: Paul Moves Out." Kirkus Reviews, vol. 73, no. 6, 15 Mar. 2005, p. 317. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A131040695/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3b5cb6cc. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
PAUL MOVES OUT MICHAEL RABAGLIATI. Drawn Quarterly, $19.95 (120p) ISBN 1-89659787-4
This charming sequel to Paul Has a Summer Job continues Rabagliati's heavily autobiographical look at his days as a young adult in Montreal. Here, we see Paul at design school, falling under the spell of a charismatic teacher, and meeting and eventually moving in with Lucie, a fellow student who impresses him with her knowledge of Tintin. Rabagliati covers everything in a nostalgic glow, so even an episode when the teacher makes a pass at him comes off as a simple misunderstanding rather than a sordid event. The story is episodic, following such tiny everyday scenes as a scary handyman who destroys Paul and Lucie's bathroom while trying to kill a rat, the death of a favorite aunt and a weekend spent babysitting some kids. If it sounds pretty low-key, it is. Rabagliati is clearly in love with his own reminiscences and doesn't really shape the material into any kind of dramatic tale. However, the beautifully designed art goes a long way toward adding depth to the story. The simple moments of Paul and Lucie's life are so universal, and the characters so likable, it's easy to go along for the ride on this graphic novel equivalent of a lazy Saturday picnic in the park. (May)
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"Paul Moves Out." Publishers Weekly, vol. 252, no. 17, 25 Apr. 2005, p. 41. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A132084276/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=9e0dcfd1. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Paul Goes Fishing.
By Michel Rabagliati. Tr. by Helge Dascher.
Mar. 2008. 208p. illus. Drawn & Quarterly, paper, $19.95 (9781897299289). 741.5.
Readers have followed Rabagliati's alter ego Paul from his unhappy youth as a high-school dropout through his first stabs at adulthood. In the fourth book about him, he's married and settled down with girlfriend Lucie and working as a graphic designer in Montreal. A fishing trip with his in-laws is largely uneventful. Paul gets to know them better, reminisces about his childhood and troubled adolescence, and finds that he doesn't really care for fishing. Such unsensational developments are consistent with previous installments of Paul's saga, all of which evoked the charm and quiet drama of small moments. After the vacation, Paul and Lucie's efforts to get pregnant meet a series of setbacks that come as close to anguish as Rabagliati has so far brought his hero. The art is as unpretentious as the plots. Rabagliati, a graphic designer himself, understands the importance of visual simplicity and thoughtful panel composition to effective comics storytelling. It's easy to underrate Rabagliati's achievement, which is the celebration of the everyday so as to make of it modest yet compelling art.--Gordon Flagg
YA/S: For teens hooked by the teenage Paul in the earlier books. GF.
Flagg, Gordon
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 American Library Association
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Flagg, Gordon. "Paul Goes Fishing." Booklist, vol. 104, no. 14, 15 Mar. 2008, p. 44. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A177634784/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e79acd5c. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
RABAGLIATI, Michael. Paul goes fishing. Drawn & Quarterly. 208p. illus, c2008. 978-1897299289. $19.95. SA*
Paul is a graphic designer who lives in Quebec. He and his pregnant wife Lucie are going on vacation; they have rented a cabin in the woods with his sister-in-law's family. Paul isn't the outdoorsy type. He likes the bunnies that run free on the grounds, and that's about it. He hates fishing because he and his father almost drowned in a disastrous fishing trip when he was a lad, and is horrified at modern hunting tactics--feed the animals for months so you know where they will be when you want to shoot them. Despite all this, Paul has a good time. He plays Bingo and visits a museum dedicated to the feats of Louis Cyr, the strongest man in Canada. The vacation is cut short when Lucie takes ill.
Paul Goes Fishing is part of a semi-autobiographical series. The folksy narrative is all about family--Paul and Lucie's attempts to have a baby are an important plot point, but most of the story takes place in the cabin in the woods with Paul's in-laws. The b/w art reminds me of Tintin. Paul Goes Fishing contains vulgarity (s-bomb); non-sexual nudity; and disturbing imagery--there are two abortions (all that's shown is blood dripping into a bottle, but it's still horrible), which the author foreshadows by the presence of vacuum cleaners at the graphic novel's beginning. Highly recommended for high school and adult graphic novel collections; if memoirs are popular at your library this is a must-read. George Galuschak, YA Libn, Montvale PL, Montvale, NJ
S--Recommended for senior high school students.
A--Recommended for advanced students and adults. This code will help librarians and teachers working in high schools where there are honors and advanced placement students. This is also will help extend KLIATT's usefulness in public libraries.
*--The asterisk highlights exceptional books.
Galuschak, George
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Galuschak, George. "Rabagliati, Michael. Paul goes fishing." Kliatt, vol. 42, no. 3, May 2008, p. 30. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A179159882/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f81d27d5. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
The Song of Roland.
By Michel Rabagliati. Illus. by the author. Tr. by
Helge Dascher.
2012. 192p. Conundrum, paper, $20 (9781894994613). 741.5.
Roland Beaulieu, the father-in-law of Rabagliati's alter ego, Paul, is dying. His illness has been gradual, and his decline isn't a surprise, but that doesn't make it any easier for anyone in the family. Roland has worn many hats in his long and rich life--orphan, reckless youth, self-made man, husband, father, patriarch--but none fully captures the impact he has had on the lives around him. As an observer closer to the emotional sidelines, Paul chronicles the family's ordeal as Roland slips from sick to gravely ill to his final decline in a hospice outside of Montreal. Rabagliati captures the sadness of Roland's death, but more than that, he captures the weight of Roland's life, making the tragedy even more poignant. Despite the heaviness of the subject, there are sublime moments of light and triumph and even laughter. Rabagliati's series of comic books about Paul are well-known in Canada and Europe. He captures characters well, even with few lines, and adeptly renders their expressions and personalities. His backdrops--Quebec City, Montreal, the Quebec countryside--are wonderfully drawn with enough recognizable landmarks to match up postcards and photos. Through Paul's vision we are invited into this family's moment of sadness, not to mourn but to celebrate a man's full life with respect and love.
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Coleman, Tina. "The Song of Roland." Booklist, vol. 109, no. 4, 15 Oct. 2012, p. 37. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A307269586/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b0391fc5. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.
Paul at Home
Michel Rabagliati, trans, from the French by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall. Drawn & Quarterly, $21.95 trade paper (208p)
ISBN 978-1-77046-414-8
In the latest installment of Rabagliati's long-running series of semiautobiographical comics (Paul Goes Fishing, etc.), Paul is in his early 50s and stuck in a downward spiral. Divorced, he draws comics, holds strong opinions on typography, worries about his daughter leaving the nest, and tends to his mother's mounting health problems. His attitude at middle age is summed up by his declaration, "I hate change! Especially when it's useless!"
Rabagliati draws the exurban Quebec setting with panache, lavishing attention on vintage architecture and signage, and his coolly abstracted characters have an art deco gloss. But the world around them, through Paul's perspective, is overgrown with symbols of decay. The trope of the misanthropic crank cartoonist is all too familiar, and it's a wrench to see Paul fall prey as he ages; indeed, long gone is the Paul of earlier works, a neurotic but more openhearted teenager. The rare moments of grace center on his relationship with his mother, a flinty woman who faces her own mortality without fear. Though there's enough to hook newcomers, this volume is best enjoyed by readers who have been following the characters through the years. (Oct.)
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"Paul at Home." Publishers Weekly, vol. 267, no. 41, 12 Oct. 2020, p. 61. Gale General OneFile, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A639268994/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=87e1be74. Accessed 9 Dec. 2020.