New D+Q: Joe Ollmann's The Abominable Mr. Seabrook

William Seabrook lead an entirely remarkable life. The American, famous for coining the term “zombie”, was a world-famous travel writer and journalist from the Lost Generation. He was also a raging alcoholic, obsessed with bondage, and dabbled in cannibalism. Seabrook’s life and exploits were meticulously researched over a seven year period by Joe Ollmann, whose comic biography is one of the most vivid and delightful in recent memory.

Ollmann's rubbery, dark lines and muted palate carefully render the complicated personality of Mr. Seabrook, at once a gregarious and prickly man.

Seabrook's life was marked with towering highs and crushing lows, which Ollmann depicts with due moral ambiguity, affectionately capturing the redeeming moments while refusing to ignore the points of depravity. "William Seabrook is drunk again.. not drunk again, but still drunk and always drunk."

Ollmann's discerning eye and instinct as a biographer are extremely sharp; he often interweaves the words of Seabrook's previous biographers and those of the man himself, dredged up from long forgotten archives.

This fantastic paperback edition features a handful of extra goodies, including Ollmann's notes, his ranked list of Seabrook's books, and a recipe for the author's "Asylum" cocktail!

This stark and illuminating comic biography is an instant classic from Joe Ollmann and a welcome addition to the Drawn & Quarterly collection!

**We are hosting a book launch with Joe Ollmann on Friday, the 27th of January. Admission is free. More info on the event can be found here.