front cover of Bowie
Bowie
An Illustrated Life
By María Hesse and Fran Ruiz; translated by Ned Sublette
University of Texas Press, 2019

David Bowie was a master of artifice and reinvention. In that same spirit, illustrator María Hesse and writer Fran Ruiz have created a vivid retelling of the life of David Robert Jones, from his working-class childhood to glam rock success to superstardom, concluding with the final recording sessions after his cancer diagnosis.

Narrated from the rock star’s point of view, Bowie colorfully renders both the personal and the professional turning points in a life marked by evolution and innovation. We see Bowie facing the sorrow of his brother’s mental illness, kicking a cocaine habit while other musicians succumbed to deadly overdoses, contending with a tumultuous love life, and radiating joy as a father. Along the way, he describes how he shattered the boundaries of song and society with a counterculture cast that included Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, and Freddie Mercury—as well as his own creations, Ziggy Stardust and the Thin White Duke.

Evocatively illustrated from start to finish, Bowie is a stellar tribute to an inimitable star.

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front cover of Freddie Mercury
Freddie Mercury
An Illustrated Life
Alfonso Casas; translated by Ned Sublette
University of Texas Press, 2020

The music of Queen and powerhouse lead singer Freddie Mercury are best experienced with the volume turned all the way up. Alfonso Casas’s Freddie Mercury delivers a sonorous homage to the formidable singer and the turning points that produced a game-changing body of music that continues to inspire fans around the globe.

First published in Spain and now available worldwide, this luminous work covers Freddie's three “births”: his birth as Farrokh Bulsara in Zanzibar; his adoption of the last name of Mercury and the launch of Queen with Brian May and Roger Taylor; and the emergence of the lasting legend after Freddie’s death at the age of forty-five. Casas's evocative illustrations highlight the key moments in the singer’s transformation from child prodigy to superstar, bringing to life the bold innovator who broke free of his conventional upbringing. Chronicling events from Freddie’s marriage to Mary Austin and early fame in London’s 1970s glam scene, to the making of multiple megahits (including the six-minute chart-topper “Bohemian Rhapsody”), to his final years in a lasting relationship with Jim Hutton, Freddie Mercury is an exhilarating, poignant portrait of a creative genius who lived life to the hilt.

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Frida Kahlo
An Illustrated Life
By María Hesse, translated by Achy Obejas
University of Texas Press, 2018

One of the most important artists of the twentieth century and an icon of courageous womanhood, Frida Kahlo lives on in the public imagination, where her popularity shows no signs of waning. She is renowned for both her paintings and her personal story, which were equally filled with pain and anguish, celebration and life. Thousands of words, including her own, have been written about Kahlo, but only one previous biography has recorded her fascinating, difficult life. Frida Kahlo by María Hesse offers a highly unique way of getting to know the artist by presenting her life in graphic novel form, with striking illustrations that reimagine many of Kahlo’s famous paintings.

Originally published in Spanish in 2016, Frida Kahlo has already found an enthusiastic audience in the Spanish-speaking world, with some 20,000 copies sold in just a few months. This translation introduces English-language readers to Kahlo’s life, from her childhood and the traumatic accident that would change her life and her artwork, to her complicated love for Diego Rivera and the fierce determination that drove her to become a major artist in her own right. María Hesse tells the story in a first-person narrative, which captures both the depths of Frida’s suffering and her passion for art and life.

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front cover of Wilfred Owen
Wilfred Owen
An Illustrated Life
Jane Potter
Bodleian Library Publishing, 2014
Wilfred Owen is the “Poet of Pity,” whose realistic portrayals of war gave voice to the soldier wounded, captured, or killed—not just in the Great War but in every war since, so great is the evocative power of his work. Although he saw only five poems published during his lifetime, Owen left behind a wealth of letters and poetry that together form a powerful legacy.
           
This generously illustrated book tells the story of Owen’s life and work, from his birth in 1893 to his tragic death just one week before the signing of the armistice that would end the war. The shocking realism of poems such as “Strange Meeting” and the angry disillusionment of “Anthem for Doomed Youth” reveal Owen’s transformation from a romantic youth steeped in the poetry of Keats to a mature soldier awakened to the horrors of the Western Front.
           
Drawing on numerous manuscripts, artifacts, and family photographs, this book gives a comprehensive view of the relationship between the poet’s lived experience and his writing that will appeal equally to both those well-versed in Owen’s work and those seeking a well-researched, accessible introduction.
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