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Notes from a defeatist
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Notes from a defeatist

by Joe Sacco

This collection of graphic journalism and comics examines the impact of aerial warfare on civilians, featuring accounts of World War II and the Gulf War. It also includes autobiographical stories, early satirical strips, and a chronicle of a punk band's European tour.

Accession 14090 ISBN 0224072706 Publisher Jonathan Cape
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Art Communication Entertainment History Literature Media Social Sciences Violence War
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State
on_shelf
True
position_updated_at
2026-06-03 16:56
orientation
vertical
Details

Physical

binding_type
Hard Back
dimensions
none captured
spine_text
none captured

Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:N1:29 4 Current vertical
2 days, 19 hours ago
G:N1:11 5 vertical
2 days, 20 hours ago
Book Location
Updated 2 days, 19 hours ago
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Frozen copy of Vernon's record from the last sync. Fields tagged → flow back into the Pulse record.

Last synced 2026-06-02 13:30 (3 days, 23 hours ago)

Identity

name→ title
Notes from a defeatist
vernon_id
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14090
vernon_slug
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Drives Pulse state

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On Shelf
location_name
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isbn_issn→ isbn (when valid)
0224072706

Descriptive

production_date
2003
object_type
Books/Document genres/Information forms/Visual and Verbal Communication
object_status
Accessioned
brief_description
Before Joe Sacco crafted his two major works of "cartoon journalism," Palestine and Safe Area Gorazde, he created a number of shorter pieces, ranging from one-page gags to 30-page "graphic novelettes." This massive book finally collects the entirety of Sacco's earlier journalistic and autobiographical work, plus a sizable serving of his satirical strips, many of them never before collected in book form. The centerpieces in Notes from a Defeatist are a triptych of war stories: "When Good Bombs Happen to Bad People," a history of aerial bombing that specifically targets civilian populations; "More Women, More Children, More Quickly," in which Sacco relates his mother's harrowing experiences during World War II in Malta; and, most personally (and closest to Sacco's later work), "How I Loved the War," Sacco's impassioned but sardonic reflection on the Gulf War, the surrounding propaganda and media circus, and his own ambivalent feelings as both a spectator and commentator: The book derives its title from this sequence, which has acquired a painful new relevance in the past half-year. Notes from a Defeatist also includes a roadie's-eye view of an American punk band's eventful European tour, a reminiscence of an awful season spent in his native Malta, and much more. Notes from a Defeatist is a fantastic primer to Sacco's work.

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Joe Sacco
tags→ tags
Art, Arts, Literature, Philology, Pictures, Anthropology, Fiction, Comic books, strips, etc., Caricatures and cartoons, Graphic novels, Satire, War stories, Social satire, Journalism, Art and anthropology, Satire in art
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Cover image

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Topics and Themes