All Over Coffee [Hardcover]

Paul Madonna (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2007

In February 2004, the San Francisco Chronicle began printing an enigmatic feature called “All Over Coffee.” Almost immediately, letters of love and hate, confusion and praise poured in. Accustomed to the familiar formats of comic strips and cartoons, some readers struggled to understand a creation that seemed to live both within and beyond those boundaries.

All Over Coffee blends the timing of comics with the depth of poetry. Artist and writer Paul Madonna has fused art, literature, and comics by pairing timeless cityscapes with philosophical musings and poignant stories in masterfully rendered ink-wash drawings that surpass the art of Ben Katchor in elegance and architectural detail. His work has been compared to “a meeting of the tone of Edward Gorey, the uniqueness of Chris Ware, and the artfulness of Raymond Pettibon.”

Quirky, whimsical, and often profound, All Over Coffee’s stunning imagery and thoughtful writing combine to create a conceptual world, both dreamlike and familiar. This selection will delight anyone who has ever lived in or visited San Francisco—or dreamed of doing so—with its original, off-the-beaten-path view of the city and its inhabitants.

Paul Madonna moved to San Francisco and began to self-publish comics after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University’s fine arts program and an internship at MAD magazine. In 2002 he launched his incredibly popular website, www.paulmadonna.com, posting a new cartoon each week. In 2004 the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com picked up his strip “All Over Coffee,” which continues to appear weekly.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Its principal appeal lies in the visuals -- inkwash drawings in a monochromatic palette of grays and sepia tones that suits a city famous for its fogs." -- San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

About the Author

Paul Madonna moved to San Francisco and began to self-publish comics after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University's fine arts program and an internship at Mad magazine. In 2002 he launched his incredibly popular website, posting a new cartoon each week. In 2004 the San Francisco Chronicle and SFGate.com picked up his strip "All Over Coffee."

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: City Lights Publishers; First Edition edition (April 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0872864561
• ISBN-13: 978-0872864566
• Product Dimensions: 11.2 x 8.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #435,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Madonna's strip, All Over Coffee, appears weekly in the San Francisco Chronicle and on SFGate.com. Paul's drawings and prints are shown several times a year in galleries, restaurants, and cafes. Other work can be found on his website and in various publications including the Believer Magazine, and the recent book A Writer's San Francisco, written by author Eric Maisel. In 1994 Paul received a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. That same year he was the first Art Intern at MAD Magazine, which he proudly received no money for. He currently lives with his wife in San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A coffee buzz for your eyes!, July 8, 2007

By 

Laura A. Guilfoyle - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: All Over Coffee (Hardcover)

I have been a big fan of Paul Madonna's exquisite drawings and thought-provoking captions since All Over Coffee debuted in the SF Chronicle. I left SF nearly 3 years ago and his strip on the web kept me connected to home. The book was very enjoyable because it documents the evolution of the strip, and has forever put to rest the question: "but what does it really mean?"

Do you love San Francisco? Do you appreciate finely rendered drawings of unique architecture or everyday things most people overlook? Ever wonder how much work a working artist really does? Do you like to eavesdrop on strangers' conversations and try to put the fragments of what you hear into context? If you answered yes to any one of the above, you will enjoy "All Over Coffee."

Thank you, Paul for giving your fans something tangible to linger over, with a good cup of coffee.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe You Had to Be There, August 23, 2007

By 

Copper Man - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Over Coffee (Hardcover)

I ended up buying this one essentially sight unseen, after seeing a couple of excerpts on the Comics Journal blog. And excerpted is probably not the best way to comprehend this - Madonna's art is stunning from the get-go, and any individual page has a really satisfying (and very 1970's-ish) feel. But as comics, it doesn't ever come together, particularly when read grouped.

Madonna's vibe seems to be a captured moment, and having 200 or so captured moments in a row doesn't do anything to increase their impact - if anything, it dilutes the strength of whatever standout strips there are.

I give it a four-star review because as a reprint volume, the standards are some of the highest I've ever seen. The sepia washes are rich and nuanced, the color is sharp and vibrant, the paper stock is top notch, etc. If you are already a fan of the strip, or really have a yen for moody yet celebratory renderings of San Francisco, this is quite a gem. If you're unfamiliar, I would recommend finding more than a few of Madonna's strips to read over and then decide if you're on his wavelength or if you want to fork over the cash for what amounts to a nice urban sketchbook with some random dialogue thrown in for effect.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Genius!, May 11, 2009

By 

Itacal (The Midwest) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Over Coffee (Hardcover)

I have never written a review of anything, but Paul Madonna's "All Over Coffee" is so brilliant, I can't not write one. "All Over Coffee" is not just a comic that appears in the SFC, or, maybe, to some, that's all it is. But if you take the time to look at each drawing and really reflect on it, the drawing and accompanying text will likely become so much more. Some drawings and textss are simply windows into poignant moments, but others are so startling and arresting that reading them will make you stop what you are doing and reconsider what you've just seen and read, only this time, with regard to your particular station and situation in life. I bought this book at City Lights Bookstore while visiting San Francisco in June 2008. The cover interested me, so I picked it up and looked inside. I opened to drawing #299 (not page #299), "It's more than possible that all sides are wrong." I knew I had to have this book. I have purchased, to date, eight copies of this book for other people. Everyone I give it to finds new things in the drawings and in the texts, and not just new, but different than what I found when I looked at the same drawings and texts. Buy this book! Not every drawing may speak to you immediately, but they likely will at some point. And when they do, they will mean something to you. And there's a good chance that what you see is altogether different from what anyone else saw. That's the genius of Paul Madonna!