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Wordt Vervolgd Novellen #5
La Mujer del Mago
"A dark, menacingly brilliant tale, tinged with the erotic . . . a kind of film noir between covers directed by Fellini." ― LA Times
"Brilliant, funny, hallucinatory." ― Joyce Carol Oates
"More engaging than 96 percent of the fiction published in France or North America today." ― Artform
"The story and the art are both eerie and erotic." ― Publishers Weekly
Spanning multiple decades and continents, this phantasmagorical epic is the result of a unique collaboration between an award-winning American author and the famous French illustrator of Alexandro Jodorowsky's Bouncer series. Writer Jerome Charyn and artist François Boucq combine their talents to recount a surrealistic tale about the wife of a philandering magician and her struggles with terrifying demons, both real and imaginary.
Originally published as La Femme du magicien, The Magician's Wife was awarded the 1986 Prix Alfred (Angoulême) and the Grand Prix (Sierre). The English-language version has been out of print for three decades, during which time the graphic novel has developed a deep cult following ― this new edition promises to mesmerize a new generation of readers. Suggested for mature readers.
"Brilliant, funny, hallucinatory." ― Joyce Carol Oates
"More engaging than 96 percent of the fiction published in France or North America today." ― Artform
"The story and the art are both eerie and erotic." ― Publishers Weekly
Spanning multiple decades and continents, this phantasmagorical epic is the result of a unique collaboration between an award-winning American author and the famous French illustrator of Alexandro Jodorowsky's Bouncer series. Writer Jerome Charyn and artist François Boucq combine their talents to recount a surrealistic tale about the wife of a philandering magician and her struggles with terrifying demons, both real and imaginary.
Originally published as La Femme du magicien, The Magician's Wife was awarded the 1986 Prix Alfred (Angoulême) and the Grand Prix (Sierre). The English-language version has been out of print for three decades, during which time the graphic novel has developed a deep cult following ― this new edition promises to mesmerize a new generation of readers. Suggested for mature readers.
88 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
4 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Jerome Charyn
221 books230 followersJerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With more than 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."
Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.
Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.
In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."
Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."
Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 23, 2016
تصویرگری بسیار خوب بود ولی نتونستم با داستان ارتباط برقرار کنم و سه ستاره رو هم فقط به تصویرگری میدم نه داستان.
December 17, 2015
“A Mulher do Mágico” uma edição da Meribérica/Liber Editores, Lda. publicada em 1987 com o preço de 1.100$00.
Jerôme Charyn (n. 1937) é o argumentista e François Boucq (n. 1955) é o desenhador, uma dupla que inicia uma viagem em Saratoga – Springs em 1956, com Rita, uma miúda que vive com a sua mãe, uma empregada doméstica, numa mansão, em que o seu proprietário é Edmundo, um mágico, que mantém uma relação estranha e doentia, primeiro com a mãe de Rita e depois com a própria Rita; num relacionamento que vai evoluindo com a sucessão de espectáculos em Moscovo, Cairo, Munique.
Uma história sombria e sobrenatural, dominada pela magia, com actos violentos e crimes abomináveis - no cenário do Central Park, em Nova Iorque - onde a realidade e a ficção se confundem, num triângulo amoroso complexo e ambíguo, em que o mágico manipulador e dissimulado, se vê envolvido dramaticamente numa viagem que regressa em 1973 ao seu cenário inicial, a Saratoga – Springs.
Uma banda desenhada, um romance gráfico brilhante, numa atmosfera fantástica e fantasmagórica.
Espectacular…
Jerôme Charyn (n. 1937) - Argumentista
December 14, 2024
{Read Catalan but took deal on group of Stuuds since collect series}
FormNormFlexibleRabats ¦ d.l+a.i. 01/1986 N°1684 ¦ [72Fr] = eo
[_‖_]"studio (A SUIVRE)" flaps = ₈₀×₃₀cm panorama[_‖_]
I loved the EXQUISITE art but Charyn's stories annoy me with unnecessary absurdity and confusion at nearly every angle.
FormNormFlexibleRabats ¦ d.l+a.i. 01/1986 N°1684 ¦ [72Fr] = eo
[_‖_]"studio (A SUIVRE)" flaps = ₈₀×₃₀cm panorama[_‖_]
I loved the EXQUISITE art but Charyn's stories annoy me with unnecessary absurdity and confusion at nearly every angle.
March 17, 2022
Ohh, nooo, this was so much not for me... I've never been much into weird, and this was definitely way past the line of weird for me... the art style isn't really my thing, but the story was really the weirdest past, both in the way it made me uncomfortable and just the full surrealism of it. But I know some of you are into the weirdness, so if you are, this may be something for you to check out
April 13, 2024
Fransız çizgi romanlarını okumak daha doğrusu algılamak gerçekten zor. Sanat yönü olarak çok üst düzey bir iş ama hikayenin -tüm ilgi çekiciliğine rağmen- idrak edemediğim, her anlamaya başladığımı düşündüğüm anda eksik kaldığımı hissettiğim bir yanı var.
April 23, 2011
If you can find this, buy it. This is a story that exists on more levels than it's aware of and maybe because it's a book that weaves in and out of magical boundaries. One of few comics that deal with magic told from a female perspective, the story grows from that device to travel through the imagination of a young girl, her adolescent and adult self. With only hints at what goes for reality, magic or dream, the tale floats around with visuals that are very attentive to detail and reflect (some times literally) the very way what we are being shown is simply an illusion of not only the characters but the artistic teams' vision. This is another great reason why U.S. fans should hunt down Catalan Communications books and scan them all (too little of them and they are mostly very good).
June 19, 2016
Could have been interesting but it feels too much like only part of a story. Nothing in the first half is sustained long enough to earn anything that happens in the second. We never care about Rita because she has zero personality and very little motivation for anything she does other than to advance the surreal plot. Art was nice but writing left a lot to be desired.
November 7, 2017
Mi admirado Boucq pone los pinceles al servicio de una historia de Charyn donde se mezcla realidad y magia para describirnos la decadencia de las pasiones y los territorios perdidos de la infancia. Un cómic estupendo.
September 27, 2025
Una obra que ya tiene unos años pero que no decae en el tiempo. Apetece cambiar, recordar aquellas formas de hacer Comic y sumergirse en autores que dan y dieron mucho que leer.
Si lo he calificado con la máxima puntuación es porque me ha gustado muchos.
Si lo he calificado con la máxima puntuación es porque me ha gustado muchos.
February 12, 2017
Another collaboration between Charyn and Boucq, and one that I've had on my to-read list for some time. This one stands out from their other collaborations -- Billy Budd, KGB and Little Tulip -- in that it's more anchored in the surreal and fantastic. I'm not entire sure what happens in this narrative, but that's all part of the fun.
October 6, 2011
There are so many levels to this story... At first, I was kind of disturbed by the artwork style of Boucq, so masterfull, so precise and perfect... somewhat too "all encompassing" to leave place to poetry.... but then, when you got into the story... or dive into it, his style morphes and merges into Charyn incredibly moving and complex life of Rita, the main character. Then reality disapears to give place to the magic of the story.
This is a comic book masterpiece, for sure. I wish you will be able to have the chance to read it too.
This is a comic book masterpiece, for sure. I wish you will be able to have the chance to read it too.
February 23, 2020
Spanning multiple decades and continents, this is a surrealistic tale about the wife of a philandering magician and her struggles with terrifying demons, both real and imaginary. An episodic story with an unconventional narrative. The art is incedible, very detailed and flowing with emotion. This won several awards when it was first published in the 1980s and is well worth your time.
February 23, 2016
Why did she go back?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 16, 2019
Why did she go back?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 3, 2022
A partir de la premisa de que “Los seres humanos cobran formas increíbles”, Charyn se adentra en un mundo onírico donde Rita es ella y a la vez cualquiera de las formas que la habitan.
June 21, 2025
If somebody cracked the code and grasped the key theme and plot of this work, please share your thoughts :)
This product of Franco-American collaboration is a great example of the problem many bande dessinées have: a cool concept with a clear artistic vision crashes right at the finish line, due to the lack of writing. It feels like 90% of the story beats are in place, and yet an obscurity (not to be confused with a sensation of mystery or magic) shrouds the work. Ideas are detached and there is either too much or too little for the reader to grasp the point among the noise. Comics like this need at least a second and third reading, which is not necessarily what I'd grant to this particular work. I guess tight-roping between surrealism and plot needs emphasis on either the one or the other to give a sense of fulfillment and wonder. Furthermore, open interpretation stories are hard to write as the best ones are compact enough to keep structure, but loose enough to stay unbound. The Magician's Wife is frustratingly close to reaching magnificence.
I wonder if it is storytelling through poetry that causes this phenomenon. As a hunch, either I lack the context for the setting, the work tries too hard to invoke magic, and/or it confuses the reader with accidental promises (mother and daughter looking the same which would imply a time loop, overlap in real and dreamworlds and love/attachment/conjured unpaced).
In the end the core themes revolve around control and resistance, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. To me the focus is wrong in the climax, as the story starts with the story of Rita but ends up with Edmund and his magic.
This product of Franco-American collaboration is a great example of the problem many bande dessinées have: a cool concept with a clear artistic vision crashes right at the finish line, due to the lack of writing. It feels like 90% of the story beats are in place, and yet an obscurity (not to be confused with a sensation of mystery or magic) shrouds the work. Ideas are detached and there is either too much or too little for the reader to grasp the point among the noise. Comics like this need at least a second and third reading, which is not necessarily what I'd grant to this particular work. I guess tight-roping between surrealism and plot needs emphasis on either the one or the other to give a sense of fulfillment and wonder. Furthermore, open interpretation stories are hard to write as the best ones are compact enough to keep structure, but loose enough to stay unbound. The Magician's Wife is frustratingly close to reaching magnificence.
I wonder if it is storytelling through poetry that causes this phenomenon. As a hunch, either I lack the context for the setting, the work tries too hard to invoke magic, and/or it confuses the reader with accidental promises (mother and daughter looking the same which would imply a time loop, overlap in real and dreamworlds and love/attachment/conjured unpaced).
In the end the core themes revolve around control and resistance, love, sacrifice, and forgiveness. To me the focus is wrong in the climax, as the story starts with the story of Rita but ends up with Edmund and his magic.
July 27, 2020
Charyn / Boucq um Americano, outro Francês. Pra mim resume com perfeição o que é a coleção de obras da dobradinha. Vc percebe influências das duas escolas, apesar de estar mais pra um quadrinho europeu com um dedinho americano colocando o pé no chão e tentando maneirar no apelo erótico.
December 8, 2022
Le ambientazioni sono molto belle, il dinamismo delle immagini pure. I personaggi invece lasciano spesso a desiderare e a volte assumono contorni eccessivi, quasi caricaturali.
La storia è debole, piena di cliché e poco sviluppata.
Avendone sentito parlare molto bene devo dire che è stata una profonda delusione
La storia è debole, piena di cliché e poco sviluppata.
Avendone sentito parlare molto bene devo dire che è stata una profonda delusione
May 26, 2020
Une référence, un histoire tragique, mystique et mystérieuse, un dessin qui intrigue...on accroche.
January 16, 2021
The character art is a bit... uncomfortable, I don't really like the style, but the backgrounds are gorgeous and very dynamic and the story is just weird enough to make up for it.
May 25, 2023
Vaya, no esperaba mucho pero si es un cuento dentro de un sueño
March 25, 2024
A real page turner, read in a sitting and was sad when it was over. The art is absolutely stunning and the story is very captivating with good and unexpected twists. Good Sunday afternoon read.
December 25, 2025
3,5 estrelas
December 30, 2016
Just read this online, and now I have deep and abiding desire to find a physical copy of this wonderfully complex book. Surreal, magical, and storied on so many levels, not to mention the interesting but deeply flawed characters, I can read this over and over and discover something new that I haven't caught on previously.
November 6, 2022
Історія інцесту, педофілії, грумінгу, емоційного та фізичного аб'юзу на фоні циркових вистав. Русофілія автора дається взнаки (див. відгук на українофобський Little Tulip).
December 13, 2015
Tightly well paced magic realism piece about the balance of obsessive want and cathartic need. Watercolor art reminds me of Moebius and the Heavy Metal books that first got me thinking about comics as not just superheroes.
January 20, 2011
Sophisticated and sexy - one of the best graphic novels I ever read.
December 29, 2015
Weird, kind of gross and misogynistic, and not my thing at all. Will probably be appreciated by the same kind of people who profess to liking Lars von Trier films.
January 6, 2016
How had I never heard of this book before? Imagine the cast of a 1960's psychedelic movie has an after party at the Moulin Rouge. Then add magic. Fantastic.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews