The Madame Paul Affair [Paperback]

Julie Doucet (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Julie Doucet and her boyfriend find a new apartment with cheap rent and a string of nutty neighbors. One ex-con “breaks out” of his apartment by smashing his own window. Another man attempts to kill himself by stuffing his head in a gas oven. But perhaps the oddest person of all is the landlady herself, Madame Paul, who one day mysteriously disappears...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Best known for her hilariously scabrous autobiographical comics series Dirty Plotte, Doucet originally serialized this short graphic novel in Montreal's weekly newspaper Ici. It's a curious memoir; the eponymous Madame Paul is the friendly, dotty janitor of the rooming house where Doucet and her boyfriend, Andr‚, live. Despite the on-site boyfriend, Madame Paul keeps trying to set up Doucet with her nephew, the building's landlord. Other tenants range from creepy to overtly violent. When Madame Paul disappears, Doucet and her friends investigate and get caught up in the janitor's even more mysterious family business. This sounds like the recipe for a conventional thriller, but the tone is more like a pleasantly rambling, anecdotal letter from a friend. Doucet's work can take a while to get used to: she's a stylist rather than a representational cartoonist, and her characters are big-headed, lopsided, wrinkly masses of flesh. She writes in the distinctively awkward but comic cadences of a Francophone with wobbly English ("Hm... Madame Paul is still being absent"). But she's also a natural, albeit eccentric, storyteller, and every messy detail crammed into each panel of the book indicates how much she loves to draw out the subtle comedy in ordinary things.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Spunky and smart, Doucet stands out for her engaging combination of a cartoonish style and frank realism." --Kirkus Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896597343
• ISBN-13: 978-1896597348
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,803,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars great little graphic short story, August 9, 2009

By 

Chance (Bofunk, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Madame Paul Affair (Paperback)

Terrific story and artwork to match. Another gem from Julie Doucet who sadly is no longer making comics. Her style is very detailed and unique and I love her wacky perspective. Highest recommendation.

5.0 out of 5 stars julie doucet is the shizznittlebomb, January 16, 2007

By 

A. Ballantine (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Madame Paul Affair (Paperback)

I began exploring comics and graphic novels a little over a year ago, during the course of which Doucet popped up and since has become one of my favorite artists. It's a real shame she's stopped drawing. I would describe her style as personal, absurdist, detached, and sometimes nicely grotesque. Madame Paul is a little stabler than some of her other work but still fabulous. She's great. If you like this but are itching for something a little stranger, I recommend checking out Leve Ta Jambe, Mon Poisson Est Mort!