Praise for Highly Inappropriate Tales for Young People by Douglas Coupland and Graham Roumieu

NATIONAL BESTSELLER (The Globe and Mail)

Featured in the Mirror (Montreal) fall arts preview [Sept. 2011]

Featured in the National Post Fall Preview [2011]

A Winnipeg Free Press/Canadian Press Featured Book for fall 2011

Featured in the Quill & Quire Fall Preview [July/Aug. 2011]

“Seven short tales of intense irony and weirdness . . . accompanied by marvelous and moody sketches and drawings. . . . A charming and also unsettling reading experience. . . . Flashes of brilliance. . . . A lovely, quirky book.” —Michel Basilières, Toronto Star

“Roald Dahl meets Stephen King in seven warped children’s-story parodies where Coupland’s understated prose is made all the funnier by Roumieu’s gleefully depraved illustrations. With such cuddly heroes as a murderous juice box and an alcoholic, kleptomaniac minivan, the duo take a sly dig at corporate capitalism—think Generation X-cess.” —National Post

“[Coupland’s] clearly not afraid to try something new. . . . And [this book] is certainly something new. . . . The tone is playful, simple and winking. Most of the time, it’s best just to go with the flow without asking too many questions or over-thinking things. . . . The writing . . . maintains its Coupland voice. . . . Both disturbing and hilarious. . . . The illustrations give life to the book, bringing the oddball characters out of the text and into the world. Roumieu’s dark, twisted work reminds me of Quentin Blake’s beautifully perfect illustrations for Roald Dahl’s classic children’s books. . . . A well-executed series of quirky stories that are imaginative and often funny. Also, for the record, Coupland’s dust-jacket author photo is spectacular. If you’ve never seen a Canadian literary icon’s head wrapped in elastic bands, well, Coupland delivers. Your move, Margaret Atwood.” —Edmonton Journal

“The stories are filled with genuine laugh-out-loud moments, usually resulting from the ridiculously deadpan dialogue. . . . While the collection is very clearly a product of Coupland’s strange and unique mind, Roumieu’s illustrations are excellent complements to the stories. . . . These sketches are just as darkly funny as the story itself.” —Quill & Quire

“No matter if you are old or young . . . this collection of cruel fables will undoubtedly charm. If you’ve been waiting for the gleeful pleasure of seeing cartoon characters getting to beat up the unsuspecting, or mock the foreign, or make small children puke, then this book is for you.” —Sonnet L’Abbé, The Globe and Mail

“The mind of Douglas Coupland must be a scary place to live. Proof: this . . . book. . . . Illustrated by the talented Graham Roumieu . . . [it] is . . . a feast for adult eyes only. (Vomit has never looked so painterly.) So, those of you who have ever wondered what kind of trouble a Hobo Minivan with Extremely Low Morals can get into can take a soothing breath: the wait is over this month.” —ELLE Canada

“Anyone who has ever wondered what might transpire if the author of Bigfoot’s autobiography were to illustrate a story collection by Canada’s reigning postmodern ironist can stop wondering.” ––Quill & Quire

“Graham [Roumieu]’s illustrations amped up the funny. . . . He may very well be a spiritual successor to Quentin Blake.” —Drawn

“If you like Edward Gorey’s irony, or the wickedest tales in Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk (David Sedaris), Coupland’s demented collection of short stories is for you.” —Lindy Reads and Reviews (blog)

Magnet Reps is proud to announce that Emiliano Ponzi, Catell Ronca, Red Nose Studio and Nate Williams each had work chosen to appear in the Society of Illustrators 54th annual and exhibition.

Society of Illustrators is the premier showcase for illustrators and animators, featuring over 400 pieces of the most outstanding works created throughout the year. Open to artists worldwide, thousands of entries were considered by a a jury of professionals, which include renowned illustrators, art directors and designers.

Congratulations go out to all!

From left to right:

Editorial: Red Nose Studio, Chimney Sweep, Angie’s List

Editorial: Emiliano Ponzi, Soup Can, La Repubblica

Uncommissioned: Catell Ronca, Amy Winehouse

Uncommissioned: Red Nose Studio, Stilty

Editorial: Emiliano Ponzi, Undertow, New York Times

Book: Emiliano Ponzi, September 11, La Repubblica

Institutional: Nate Williams, Snailaphant, Invisible Creature, Inc.

Moving Image: Red Nose Studio, Ticket Taker, Campbell Ewald / Deliver Magazine

Moving Image: Emiliano Ponzi, Voices For Freedom, Amnesty International / Leo Burnett Iberia / We Are Captive, GOLD Medalist

Sequential: Emiliano Ponzi, Imaginary Friends, EMI Music / Quiet Please

Sequential: Nate Williams, Naive City

Institutional: Emiliano Ponzi, Evil Apple Core, EMI Music / Quiet Please, GOLD Medalist

Emiliano Ponzi is today’s featured illustrator in Alternative Pick, an award-winning website that links creative professionals to the best illustrators, photographers and designers in the commercial art industry.  Visit the Altpick.com home page to see the featured spread and click through to his profile to see the rest of his portfolio.

The Italian newspaper Il Post recently published a feature on Emiliano Ponzi that details his career trajectory and describes his latest projects.  Focusing on his recent monograph 10×10, the article plugs the ongoing exhibition at the Libraria Extemporanea in Milan.

To see the article and a gallery of Emiliano’s work, visit: Le illustrazioni più belle di Emiliano Ponzi

Nate Williams illustrated the cover for the August issue of Backstage Magazine, an actor’s resource sold in New York, Los Angeles and other select locations.  ”The Audition Issue” covers the basics of landing a theater, film , or TV project.  Nate’s cover illustrates the anxiety of auditioning for roles.

The Magnet Reps office will be closed Wednesday, November 23 at 3 PM EST.  Regular office hours will resume Monday, November 28.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Catell Ronca is today’s featured member on Alternative Pick, an award-winning website founded to link creative professionals to the best illustrators, photographers and designers in the commercial art industry.  Visit the Altpick.com home page to see the featured spread and click through to her profile to see the rest of her portfolio.

We are proud to announce that Society of Illustrators New York awarded two gold medals to Emiliano Ponzi in the institutional and moving images categories.  The first piece, titled Evil Apple Core, was commissioned by EMI Music for Valerio Millefoglie’s album I miel migliori amici immaginari.  The second piece, which competed in Society of Illustrators’ first moving images competition, was completed for Amnesty International.  See the full length video here: Voices for Freedom. Emiliano also received merit awards in the following categories: Sequential Art, Book, and Editorial (2).

Congratulations Emiliano!

Gordon Wiebe’s latest cover for Kansas Medicine + Science deals with the future of cancer research.  Scientists are turning to genetics in the fight against cancer, and patients are hopeful that the key to wellness lies in their genes.

Artist-illustrator Gary Taxali, whose work has appeared in Esquire, Entertainment Weekly, Rolling Stone, and the Whitney Museum, sat down for an afternoon with Graham Roumieu at The Gem, a neighborhood bar in Toronto, Canada.  Toronto Life documented the conversation as a series of photographic panels.

See the photos and check out the conversation at TorontoLife.com

(Photographs by Daniel Ehrenworth www.dephoto.org)