McPhail brilliantly catches the rhythms of conversation, the beats and platitudes and pauses that punctuate both day-to-day routines and our most meaningful moments.
As the mood darkens, the book’s grip tightens. Nick’s world is jolted by bad news from his mother and a chance meeting with Wren, a doctor with a healthy disrespect for convention and a low tolerance for nonsense. One coffee shop boast of “a mischievous blend with notes of fermented apricot and polished concrete” another is staffed by “translucent stable boys” who “leak cold brew from crystal tanks” a third offers free coffee but charges by the number of pages you write of your screenplay. McPhail laces his middle-class, not-quite-adult life with satire. follows Nick, a city-dwelling illustrator who mixes his own projects with ad agency work and strikes poses in coffee shops and craft-beer bars, while feeling like there must be something more to existence. This clever, thoughtful debut graphic novel shows that he can produce extended narratives with just as much panache as his single-panel cartoons. He started drawing for Private Eye while still at university, and sketches regularly for the New Yorker his Instagram feed is a parade of sharp ideas. Will McPhail’s funny, shrewd cartoons often feature animals – amorous crocodiles, sly mice and bickering lizards – and cast a curious eye on human behaviour.
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