Displays of Affection

by Jean-Jacques Sempé

With pen and ink, and with gentle understanding, France's most acclaimed cartoonist explores the question of the delicate balance. "Displays of Affection" pictures love in cozy parlors, on a starry night, in chic apartments, on a windswept beach, on a wobbly bicycle. Close to 100 drawings and captions evoke tenderness, melancholy, skirmish, and triumph. "Vulnerability is la condition humaine," Sempe told "The New York Times." In this funny and moving book, his lovers and couples prove it every time. Sempe's people live in a world that is not necessarily easy for lovers. (After all, out of 2000 possible lovers, how do you find the ideal one?) But as they struggle to find each other nevertheless, they often discover, like the couple dancing alone to the strains of a full-piece orchestra in their own backyard, that "things seem to sort themselves out."

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 1981

About the author

Français:
À 17 ans, Sempé roule à bicyclette pour un courtier en vins. En 1960, il démarre avec René Goscinny l'aventure du petit Nicolas, dressant une inoubliable galerie de portraits d' "affreux jojos qui tapissent depuis notre imaginaire" (dixit Goscinny). Son humour fin, subtil et allusif allié à un formidable sens du dérisoire caractérisent toute son ouvre. Sa plume traduit sa vision tendrement ironique de nos travers et des travers du monde. Aujourd'hui, Sempé est l'auteur d'une trentaine d'albums. En 1988, il a illustré Catherine Certitude, de Patrick Modiano. Il dessine régulièrement pour L'Express, Télérama, le New Yorker et expose ses dessins et ses aquarelles à Munich, New York, Londres ou Salzburg, où il rencontre toujours un très vif succès.

English:
Jean-Jacques Sempé, usually known as Sempé (French: [sɑ̃pe]), is a French cartoonist. He is known for the series of children's books he created with René Goscinny, Le petit Nicolas, and also for his poster-like illustrations, usually drawn from a distant or high viewpoint depicting detailed countrysides or cities.

Reviews

[David Finger · Rating 3 out of 5]

You will find some gems in this short, satirical collection of comics that deal with the less glamorous side of love and relationships. But more than a few fall flat, and many are variations of the same punchline (man is punching himself, hitting himself, bemoaning his decision to fall in love). Still, you can finish this book in less than an hour and the good ones more than make up for the sub par entries.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Vulnerability is la condition humaine," Sempe told "The New York Times.

[Esmeralda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple but beautiful artwork.

[Emily Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too good

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

So sarcastic but funny. Some of the jokes I did not get, and I wonder if that's because of the translation?

[Latiza Quijada · Rating 5 out of 5]

dolce