Monsieur Lambert Book

A Classic Graphic Novel by World Renowned Cartoonist; Available in English for the First Time

"Goodness! Isn't Monsieur Lambert here today?" - the waitress, Monsieur Lambert

Jean-Jacques Sempé is one of the most successful and best-loved cartoonists in the world, best known from his drawings that have graced the covers and pages of the New Yorker and Paris Match for decades. Sempé has published numerous graphic novels in his native France, but never before have they been translated into English. Phaidon Press is delighted to announce the first English translated publication of Sempé's best-selling graphic novel, MONSIEUR LAMBERT, translated by Anthea Bell, a gentle and unmistakably French story with beautifully detailed drawings and poignant text.

MONSIEUR LAMBERT offers a glimpse into the everyday lives and secret passions of a group of regulars at a small Parisian bistro, who see each other for lunch every day, without fail. They are creatures of habit, eating the same set meals on the same day, week in and week out. One day, however, one of their group, Monsieur Lambert, does not turn up for lunch at his usual time, and the other regulars soon turn to speculating as to the reasons for the sudden and unexpected changes in their fellow diner - it surely must be because of a woman, they conclude. Why does he develop a taste for terrine, a dish he has previously always despised?

The diners are right: Lambert has indeed met a wonderful woman, Florence. This revelation changes everything, and instead of discussing football and politics as usual, the other diners in the bistro start reminiscing about women they have loved and lost, about passionate affairs in the past, all the while continuing to take a keen interest in Monsieur Lambert and his new love. Sempé, true to form, illuminates the humanistic feelings of intrigue, concern and jealously that occur amongst friends when confronted by change, to reveal the unexpected facets of the character's lives and personalities.

The restaurant and its regulars are vividly brought to life in a series of drawings that, together with the handwritten dialogue bubbles and laconic texts, display Sempé's signature unerring eye and ear for the telling details of human behavior. MONSIEUR LAMBERT is a classic graphic novel that will appeal to cartoon connoisseurs and Francophiles as well as the general public.