Days of the Bagnold Summer

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Discover the quirky tale of single parenting and heavy metal behind the film from director Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners)

'When someone looks back and writes a history of this summer, two people they will almost certainly leave out are Sue and Daniel Bagnold...'

So begins Joff Winterhart's sublimely funny and perceptive graphic novel, Days of the Bagnold Summer. Sue, 52, works in a library. Daniel, 15, is still at school. This was the summer holidays Daniel was due to spend with his father and his father's pregnant new wife in Florida. When they cancel his trip, Sue and Daniel face six long weeks together...
Joff Winterhart perfectly captures the ennui, the tension, the pathos and yes, the affection of this mother-son relationship. Already well-known for his animated films like Violet and Turquoise, he here shows himself to be a comics author of extraordinary talent.

Shortlisted for the 2012 Costa Award for Best Novel

Days of the Bagnold Summer is extremely original, funny, touching and beautifully observed in both the drawing and the writing. There is probably no truer portrait of teenage and parental angst.
Posy Simmonds

About Joff Winterhart

Joff Winterhart is an artist, writer, occasional film-maker, 'drummer', and dog fan. His graphic novel Days of the Bagnold Summer was shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award in 2012 and adapted into a film. His second graphic novel Driving Short Distances came out in 2017. He also made the animated films Two Guys I know and Violet and Turquoise, which won the Cymru BAFTA for best animation in 2003. He lives in Bristol, where he plays drums and writes songs in the long-running band Bucky, and thinks about getting a new dog.

Details

Imprint: Vintage Digital
Published: 24/12/2012
ISBN: 9781407085890
Length: 80 pages
Price: £5.99

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Days of the Bagnold Summer

Format:

Buy the book from:

Days of the Bagnold Summer is extremely original, funny, touching and beautifully observed in both the drawing and the writing. There is probably no truer portrait of teenage and parental angst.

A universal crowd pleaser...my graphic novel of the year... I love this book so much, I would have to instantly excommunicate any friend who didn’t feel the same way – though such is its greatness, this won’t ever happen.

Britain’s got a new graphic novel star. This funny, sad, extraordinary study of a heavy metal-loving teen and his long-suffering single mum is so well observed it makes your heart tingle.

Days of the Bagnold Summer captures the humiliation and agony of adolescence with excruciating precision. This short, devastating book haunted me for weeks.

This is a memorable household, seemingly passed over by history yet given their rightful place on these pages – and recommended by us as well worth meeting.

Superstar in the making…as affecting as Raymond Briggs, as beady as Posy Simmonds, a truly fantastic debut… I cherished Winterhart’s drawings. These Bagnolds are well-observed to the point of cruelty, and yet his affection for them is never in doubt.

Remarkable…beautifully observed and balanced. It’s thought-provoking, entertaining and real without being sycophantic… You should make time for this book..

If like me you’re new to graphic novels then trust me when I say this is the perfect starting point, and if you’re a regular graphic novel reader then please give this little volume a chance. It may be small but it has so much heart inside that you’ll never quite be able to leave it behind.

Heartfelt and often heartbreaking.

About Joff Winterhart

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