Molly Crabapple (you may recall her 15 rules for creative success in the Internet age) is publishing her long-awaited memoir, Drawing Blood, a singular and illustrated account of an artist’s awakening and hunger for engagement, from the New York nightlife underground through the streets of Occupy to Guantanamo Bay, and an array of emerging global conflict zones. Whether she’s recounting her time as a teenager living in the Shakespeare and Company bookstore in Paris, or, as now, helping everyday Syrians tell their stories, Crabapple’s unflinching gaze uncovers a sketch of life that is luminous, complex and inspired and sets her work apart. Creative friends also figuring out how to make it in 21st Century culture, such as Kim Boekbinder, with whom Crabapple collaborated on I Have Your Heart, loom large in the book.
With characteristic candor, Crabapple details everything from how she learned to make a living as an artist, to grappling with the opportunities and ideological limitations of feminism and activism, and expanding her take on illustrated journalism that bears witness to the full complexity of our narratives. Drawing Blood is the testimony of a fearless voice in a world on fire–– sympathetic, questioning, and, above all, present.
Below, Molly has given us some exclusive art from the book and also wants to offer Boing Boing readers a chance to get a free copy:
