You Know Exactly, the Third Collection of All Over Coffee - by Paul Madonna (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The third and final volume of All Over Coffee presents some of the most beloved and never-before-collected pieces from the weekly series. Originally published in the San Francisco Chronicle, this timeless work, which includes collaborations with many prize-winning authors, is now collected for the first time into a new gorgeous hardcover edition.

"[Paul] Madonna, Bayview-based artist, illustrator, writer and award-winning author, is renowned for his long-running city-inspired comic strip series 'All Over Coffee.' Once described by Madonna as 'a comic strip without the comic, ' the series paired intricate sketches of The City--a street corner, a view of Alcatraz or a deserted alleyway--with poignant, poetic text. The infusion of art and literature challenged typical comic strip conventions, attracting a regional cult following and setting Madonna on a path of artistic discovery. The third and final installment [of the series], You Know Exactly, launched this month."
--San Francisco Examiner

"All Over Coffee was in many ways a gift to the city. It immortalized the San Francisco that locals see every day; not the one most commonly depicted in movies and on TV. Because of its grounding in familiar corners, sidewalks and liquor stores, Madonna's art can also ask viewers to explore their own psyche, or to suspend their disbelief, or to go on a journey with him they weren't expecting. And sometimes, just sometimes, it'll be so close to home, you'll think he's made a personal visit."
--KQED Arts & Culture

"[A]n impressive coffee-table style volume, You Know Exactly, the Third Collection of All Over Coffee is an inherently fascinating book to browse through."
--Midwest Book Review

You Know Exactly enigmatically melds art, story, and travel to capture the profundity reflected outside and resting deep within the soul. With original writings plus collaborations with award-winning writers including Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Cheryl Strayed, Andrew Sean Greer, Robert Olen Butler, Kristen Tracy, Daniel Handler (otherwise known as Lemony Snicket), and more, artist and writer Paul Madonna pairs words with exquisitely rendered cityscapes to create a poignant, thought-provoking showpiece. Each page offers something unique: short stories, poems, fleeting thoughts, and one-liners displayed alongside pen and ink drawings that travel from San Francisco to New York, from Paris to Tokyo. The effect coalesces into a mesmerizing work that you'll want to return to again and again.

Review Quotes

"Paul Madonna is a pen master. His work is difficult to categorize but that he was MAD magazine's first art intern may help explain his ability to capture human experience in its odd fullness."
--Boston Globe

"Miraculously exquisite. . . dreamy and surprisingly emotional."
--Salon

"When his international images are paired with his sparse, poetic words, the effect is haunting. Though Madonna travels the globe, it's not the famous sites or wonders that catch his attention. . . and the experience of being in his world is mesmerizing."
--Oprah.com

"A deeply satisfying, ruminative meditation on life seen through the eyes of appealing, but imperfect, characters. . . highly recommended."
--Foreword Reviews

"About detail, willful eccentricity, an almost rococo approach to line, and a steadfast devotion to art for its own sake, beauty as its own reward. Paul Madonna's work gives itself fully to all of these notions."
--Dave Eggers

"Madonna captures snapshots in time as he explores the relationship between image and text. . . that's so gorgeously rendered in Madonna's precise yet fluid pen-and-ink style, it feels like it could be anywhere and everywhere."
--Publishers Weekly

"Explores the nature of the creative process and is a blend of artistic media, with more than 100 ink-on-paper illustrations of locations in China, Japan and Thailand interspersed throughout the novel."
--Shelf Awareness

"Almost any book is sure to please the bookish, but a book that can pique the interest of bibliophiles is as precious as a padparadscha sapphire. Here are some such gems. . . Artist and author Paul Madonna pens a mystery novel full of unexpected plot twists and lively characters accompanied by more than 100 strikingly rendered drawings that bring this novel to life. This tale of love, murder, books, and art is presented in a three-volume box set."
--Publishers Weekly, Holiday Gift Guide (Illustrated Books)

"Blown away by Paul Madonna's new book Come to Light. [Madonna] blends a mystery novel with his usual stunning artwork--highly recommended."
--Mike Krieger, co-founder and former CTO of Instagram