The Dancing Plague

Name: The Dancing Plague
Brand: Thames and Hudson (Australia) Pty Ltd
SKU: 9781910593981
Price: 39.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

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( 610 ratings, 97 reviews)

Summary

The Dancing Plague recounts a bizarre historical event from 1518 in Strasbourg, where hundreds were overtaken by an uncontrollable urge to dance. The story is told through the eyes of Mary, a witness whose life is marked by mystic visions, betrayal, and hardship. This graphic novel explores themes of social injustice and collective hysteria using a unique mixed-media art style combining pyrography and vivid embroidery, capturing the delicate human experience amid turmoil.
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Format: Paperback / softback

$39⁹⁹

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The Dancing Plague

$39⁹⁹

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 graphic novel will appeal to readers interested in historical events, psychological mysteries, and those who appreciate inventive artistic techniques in storytelling.

From “choreomania” to coronavirus: an utterly original graphic novel about a newly urgent subject.

Description

The Dancing Plague tells a true story from 1518, when hundreds of inhabitants of Strasbourg were suddenly seized by the strange and unstoppable compulsion to dance, from the imagined perspective of Mary, one of its witnesses.

Prone to mystic visions as a child, betrayed in the convent to which she flees, then abused by her loutish husband, Mary endures her life as an oppressed and ultimately scapegoated woman with courage, strength, and inspiring beauty.

As difficult to interpret now (as a psychological reaction to social injustice?) as it was then (as a collective demonic possession?), the story of the Dancing Plague finds suitably extraordinary expression in the utterly unique mixed-media style Gareth Brookes has devised to tell it.

The pioneering blend of his trademark "pyrographic" technique with sumptuously colourful (and literal) embroidery perfectly reflects, in a beautiful work of art, the enduring fragility of our human condition — from "choreomania" to coronavirus.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The New York Times praised The Dancing Plague as the most visually stunning quarantine comic, highlighting Gareth Brookes's innovative fusion of fire and needlework to create a uniquely beautiful work.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781910593981

Publisher: SelfMadeHero

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 29 April 2021

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: SelfMadeHero

Illustration: Full colour illustration

Contributors:

Created by Gareth Brookes

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 19.0mm

Width: 172.0mm

Height: 240.0mm

Weight: 600g

Pages: 192

Collections

Adult Graphic Novels Fiction Graphic Novels

About the Author

Gareth Brookes studied printmaking at the Royal College of Art. His graphic novels include A Thousand Coloured Castles (2017) and The Black Project, which was nominated in the Selection Officielle at the 2018 Festival de la Bande Dessinee in Angouleme. His work has appeared in ArtReview, been published by Kus, and was included in the "Comics Unmasked" exhibition at the British Library in 2014.