The Art of Pho
By (Author) Julian Hanshaw
Vintage Publishing
Jonathan Cape Ltd
1st September 2010
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Narrative theme: Sense of place
741.5942
Hardback
112
Width 214mm, Height 254mm, Spine 16mm
694g
Inspired by the food of Vietnam, The Art of Pho is a remarkable debut by the winner of the 2008 Cape/Observer graphic novel competition The noodle soup called pho is the national dish of Vietnam. When Little Blue-- having been dropped by a mysterious man with a red car and being told to count to 500 -- finds himself in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam's baffling, daunting capital, his salvation is his own mobile pho stand. Little Blue's relationship with the city and its food brings an understanding to what it means to never want to return home and the fact that everyone goes away in the end. Beautifully drawn and coloured, and featuring many delicious recipes for pho, this is a startlingly original and immensely appealing graphic novel by a brilliant new talent. Play the interactive motion comic at http-//artofpho.submarinechannel.com/
Julian Hanshaw is an animator, cartoonist and illustrator. He won the Cape Observer Comica Graphic Short Story Prize in 2008. He lives in East Sussex.