Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0714845434, Hardcover)

Jean-Jacques Semp+- is one of the most successful andbest-loved cartoonists in the world, best known from his cartoons that havegraced the covers and pages of the New Yorker for decades.Semp+- haspublished numerous collections of his work in his native France, but neverbefore have they been translated into English.Phaidon Press is delightedto present the first English translated publication of MIXED MESSAGES byJean-Jacques Semp+-, one of four witty and beautifully illustratedcollections from this notorious and widely adored cartoonist.The most recent collection of Semp+-'s work, MIXED MESSAGES was originallypublished in France in 2003.Here Semp+- turns his attention to thetrappings of modern life, from cell phones to designer water, and revisitssome of his favorite subjects, such as struggling artists, a lookpsychiatrists and unhappy couples.One image portrays two business men inconversation, traveling down a cit street aboard personal scooters,ironically wondering about the kind of society they are leaving to theirchildren.While another image, rendered beautifully in watercolor, mocksNew York City's resolute ban of smoking in restaurants; calling on the NYPDto take out a lit cigarette in a vacated French Bistro.Whether he ispoking fun at the urbane patrons of fashionable restaurants or theinhabitants of the bucolic countryside, Semp+- treats all of his subjectswith equal amounts of insight and affection.Semp+-'s work, once just the one-of-a-kind illustrations that appearedbefore our American eyes in delightful yet sporadic moments, can now bebrought home as an enchanting part of every family's library.MIXEDMESSAGES, just one volume of four, includes more than 100 illustrations,both pen and ink, with captions translated by Anthea Bell.Professionals,children, and adults of any age will fall in love with these charmingbooks.