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Biography of a Fly

By Jaap Robben
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Biography of a Fly is a beautifully illustrated and philosophical graphic novel by Jaap Robben. Told from the unique perspective of a fly, it explores themes of friendship, existence, and the fleeting nature of life. The story follows the fly from larva to its final moments, offering a charming and witty reflection on how one might embrace life knowing each day is numbered.
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Format: Hardback
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This thought-provoking and visually engaging book is suitable as a gift for readers of all ages, particularly those who appreciate reflective and heartfelt stories about life's fragility and the bonds we form.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

For readers of The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse comes a beautifully illustrated philosophical book on the value of friendship and life, told from the perspective of a fly, and a gift book for all ages.

What if you were thrown into existence in the middle of your life, with numbered days left ahead of you? Would you see the world in the same way? In his inimitable style, Jaap Robben answers these questions through the unexpectedly witty lens of a fly, from the moment it enters the world as a larva right up to its deathbed.

Watch this humble fly throw himself into life and his unlikely friendships with gusto, however short that life may be. Irresistibly charming, funny, and sprinkled with entomological details, this is a moving tale for any stage of life, about how we are all ultimately alone, and yet also together.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781642861242

Publisher: World Editions

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 06 September 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: World Editions

Illustration: Full-page blue and black illustrations throughout

Contributors:

  • Translated by David Doherty
  • Illustrated by Paul Faassen

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 121.0mm

Height: 172.0mm

Weight: 300g

Pages: 64

Collections

Fiction Graphic Novels Jaap Robben

About the Author

Jaap Robben is a poet, playwright, performer, and acclaimed children's author. You Have Me to Love, his first novel for adults, won the 2014 Dutch Booksellers Award, the Dioraphte Prize, and the ANV Award for best Dutch debut. Robben was chosen as one of the featured debut authors at the 2018 Brooklyn Book Festival. Summer Brother, his second novel, was longlisted for the International Booker Prize and received rave reviews in the US upon its release.

David Doherty studied English and literary linguistics in the UK before moving to the Netherlands, where he has been translating all manner of Dutch texts since 1996. He was commended by the jury of the 2017 Vondel Translation Prize for Marente de Moor's The Dutch Maiden and Jaap Robben's You Have Me to Love, and was runner-up in 2019 for his translation of Monte Carlo by Peter Terrin. Jaap Robben's Summer Brother, one of Doherty's most recent translations, was longlisted for the 2021 International Booker Prize.

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