Lightness: Volume 0

Catherine Meurisse

Europe Comics

About this eBook

In the aftermath of the murderous attack on the Charlie Hebdo offices on January 7, 2015, cartoonist Catherine Meurisse struggles with the trauma of losing her friends and looks for a way to move forward with her life and her art. She soon enters a dissociative state where she loses her memories, especially those associated with esthetic experiences. This leads her on a quest to seek beauty and lightness in the world around her with the help of guiding lights including Proust, Stendhal, Baudelaire, and two provocative graffiti artists. Throughout the book, Meurisse uses her limber cartooning and dynamic writing to weave a tapestry of raw emotion and philosophical reflection laced with a strain of wry humor.

About the author

Catherine Meurisse was born in 1980. After her initial studies in contemporary literature, she went to the Ecole Estienne followed by Arts Déco in Paris to specialize in design and the graphic arts. By 2005, she had joined the team at French satirical magazine "Charlie Hebdo," as well as illustrating for other publications such as "Libération," "Marianne," "Les Échos," and "L'Obs," and publishers like Bayard, Gallimard, Nathan, and Sarbacane. Over the years, she has also authored a number of graphic novels, including "Savoir-vivre ou mourir" (2010, Les Échapées), "Drôles de femmes" (2010, Dargaud), and "Moderne Olympia" (2014, Futuropolis). And in 2016, she published the remarkable "La légèreté" (Dargaud; "Lightness," Europe Comics), the tale of her return to life and to art following the terrorist attack at Charlie Hebdo in January 2015. Her latest work includes the endearing and thought-provoking graphic novel "Les Grands espaces" (Dargaud; "The Great Outdoors," Europe Comics).