A Book with Heart

09/30/2010 5:49pm

Dark Horse Comics is proud to present Heart Transplant, a new book by best-selling author Andrew Vachss and acclaimed artist Frank Caruso

hearttransplant

For more than three decades, best-selling author Andrew Vachss has fought the worst kind of bully: child abusers. In his law practice, he's represented children and youth exclusively. As art director for King Features for two decades, Frank Caruso has developed a style that speaks to all ages, for all ages. Together, they have developed Heart Transplant, a book that attempts to reset the cultural software so that people change the way they think about bullying.

Bullying is universally decried, bemoaned, and condemned. And on the rise. Whether it's a teenager committing suicide as a result of a Facebook posting or a group of schoolchildren taunting a child with autism and filming it for the "entertainment" of others, the longest-lasting, deepest-scarring impact of bullying is emotional, not physical. Failure to understand this has handicapped an already-insipid series of failed "solutions." Heart Transplant is aimed at actually changing the way we deal with perhaps the most critical issue for children and parents alike today. To accomplish this mission, an entirely new genre was created. Neither a graphic novel nor a self-help book, it uses elements of both to reach parents and children alike. The intermingling of word and art is achieved so smoothly that it is experienced as one does words and music: you may forget the lyrics and hum the tune, but that very act evokes the lyrics. And if it's the lyrics that stick with you, you'll find yourself humming the tune. The anchoring essay (by clinical social worker Zak Mucha) explains in prose detail what the reader has just experienced. This book will be shelved under "Parenting" and "Young Adult." Why? Because there is no "Bullying" section in any bookstore. And if Heart Transplant hits either target, it will hit both. Nothing like this has ever been tried before. But if it works, the high risk will be rewarded by the greatest prize of all.


Visit vachss.com/heart to read an excerpt from Heart Transplant.

blog comments powered by Disqus

Subscribe

Follow our news feed!

Recent Posts

Four Deluxe Edition volumes of Yasuhiro Nightow’s beloved manga...
05-08-2024
Summer loving sucksSink your teeth into an all-new horror mystery series,...
05-07-2024
Greetings, fans! Below, find the Dark Horse convention and event appearance...
05-03-2024
Dark Horse Books presents Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 1. The NCS/Reuben...
05-01-2024
In collaboration with Amazon MGM Studios, three new PVC figures emerge from...
05-01-2024

Archive