A Classic Graphic Novel by World Renowned Cartoonist;Available in English for the First Time"Goodness! Isn't Monsieur Lambert here today?" - the waitress, MonsieurLambertJean-Jacques Semp+- is one of the most successful and best-lovedcartoonists in the world, best known from his drawings that have graced thecovers and pages of the New Yorker and Paris Match for decades.Semp+- haspublished numerous graphic novels in his native France, but never beforehave they been translated into English.Phaidon Press is delighted toannounce the first English translated publication of Semp+-'s best-sellinggraphic novel, MONSIEUR LAMBERT, translated by Anthea Bell, a gentle andunmistakably French story with beautifully detailed drawings and poignanttext.MONSIEUR LAMBERT offers a glimpse into the everyday lives and secretpassions of a group of regulars at a small Parisian bistro, who see eachother 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 lunchat his usual time, and the other regulars soon turn to speculating as tothe 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 ataste 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 andpolitics as usual, the other diners in the bistro start reminiscing aboutwomen they have loved and lost, about passionate affairs in the past, allthe while continuing to take a keen interest in Monsieur Lambert and hisnew love. Semp+-, true to form, illuminates the humanistic feelings ofintrigue, concern and jealously that occur amongst friends when confrontedby change, to reveal the unexpected facets of the character's lives andpersonalities.The restaurant and its regulars are vividly brought to life in a series ofdrawings that, together with the handwritten dialogue bubbles and laconictexts, display Semp+-'s signature unerring eye and ear for the tellingdetails of human behavior.MONSIEUR LAMBERT is a classic graphic novelthat will appeal to cartoon connoisseurs and Francophiles as well as thegeneral public.

Jean-Jacques Sempé (b.1932) is one of the world's most successful illustrators and cartoonists. He is the illustrator of the classic children's-book character, Nicholas, and author of a collection of some thirty albums of his cartoons and graphic novels, all published or to be published by Phaidon. His world-renowned illustrations and cartoons are featured on the cover of the New Yorker and in Paris Match.