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Summary
Summary
A TIME Best Children's Book of 2019!
A Chicago Public Library 2019 Best of the Best Book!
*"This minimalistic masterpiece is a must-read for all ages." -- School Library Journal (starred review!)
A quirky, cautionary tale from beloved New York Times bestselling picture book creator Oliver Jeffers!
There was once a man who believed he owned everything and set out to survey what was his.
"You are mine," Fausto said to the flower, the sheep, and the mountain, and they all bowed before him. But they were not enough for Fausto, so he conquered a boat and set out to sea . . .
Combining bold art and powerful prose, and working in traditional lithographic printmaking techniques for the first time, world-renowned talent Oliver Jeffers has created a poignant modern-day fable to touch the hearts of adults and children alike.
Praise for The Fate of Fausto :
"Jeffers paints Fausto and the objects of his desire with the nonchalant finesse he is known for and in the richly saturated colors he generally favors... Jeffers delivers swift justice in a few concluding words that make for an ending that satisfies for being both fair-minded and irrevocable."-- New York Times Book Review
"Boldly conceived and gracefully executed."-- Publishers Weekly
"A parable sure to spark lively discussions." -- Booklist
"A cautionary fable on the banality of belligerence." -- Kirkus Reviews
Author Notes
Oliver Jeffers was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1977. He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He received a First Class Honors Degree in illustration and visual communication and certificate of foundation studies from the University of Ulster, School of Art and Design in 2001. His work has been exhibited in multiple cities, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Brooklyn Museum, and Gestalten Space in Berlin.
He writes and illustrates picture books. His debut book, How to Catch a Star, was published in 2004 and won a Merit Award at the CBI/Bisto Book of Year Awards. His second book, Lost and Found, won the Gold Award at Nestle Children's Book Prize and was developed into an animated short film, which has received over sixty awards including a BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film. His other books include The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Great Paper Caper, Up and Down, Stuck, This Moose Belongs to Me, Once upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All Letters, The Hueys series and A Child of Books. He has won numerous awards including the Smarties Award, Irish Book of the Year, The Blue Peter Book of the Year, and the 2017 Academy of British Cover Design Award in the Children's category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2--5--In Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince, the titular prince on an intergalactic journey meets a businessman who believes that he owns everything he sees. The prince is offended by the businessman's callous greed, and readers may find themselves feeling similar indignation toward Fausto in Jeffers's beautiful and sharply evocative "painted fable." Fausto, whose name will remind older readers of another avaricious literary figure, is a demanding, mustachioed man who stomps around and claims ownership of a flower, a tree, a mountain, etc. The objects he claims are left withered and lifeless in Fausto's selfishly destructive wake: the flower is plucked, the leaves fall from the tree, even the mountain stoops in sorrow. Jeffers's painted backgrounds use a blue or brown palette to evoke the mood of a world left drained and joyless. Hot pink flowers and Fausto's ironically cheerful neon yellow rain slicker draw the eye from the monochromatic backgrounds. Fausto continues in his blustery manner until his blind greed leads to his literal consumption. Some readers may be shocked by the blunt honestly of the fable's finale, but totalitarian greed is an issue that must be firmly addressed. VERDICT Only Jeffers knows if this 2019 fable is about Trumpian terrors, the horror of late-stage capitalism, or simply a cautionary tale against greed that is as old as storytelling itself. Regardless of its intentions, this minimalistic masterpiece is a must-read for all ages.--Chance Lee Joyner, Wilton Public and Gregg Free Library, NH
Publisher's Weekly Review
Fausto, a balding tyrant in a three-piece suit, wants it all. "You are mine," he tells a flower. He declares ownership of a sheep, a tree, a field, a forest, and a lake. A mountain gives him some trouble, but when Fausto "put up such a fight you would not believe"--Jeffers (Here We Are) represents it with vicious scribbles above his head--the mountain eventually concedes. Now Fausto resolves to possess the sea and, outfitted in a yellow slicker, sets out in a boat. "Sea, you are mine," he declares. To demonstrate his "anger and importance" after the sea resists, Fausto steps from the boat to stamp his foot on its surface--allowing nature a serene return to its original, unowned state. In Jeffers's first book featuring lithography, a medium that reproduces the energy of his lines with startling vividness, dashes of violent pink, acid yellow, and Prussian blue punctuate expanses of white space. Boldly conceived and gracefully executed, Jeffers's dark fable imagines what happens when desire leads to selfishness and self-destruction, and shows the merits of calm refusal in the face of dangerous individuals. Ages 4--8. (Sept.)
Guardian Review
Many of Oliver Jeffers's books have a folk tale flavour, their gentle messages smuggled in via offbeat characters with extraordinary skills or habits (think of The Incredible Book Eating Boy or the girl who hides her heart away in The Heart and the Bottle). Yet The Fate of Fausto (Harper Collins), "a painted fable", as Jeffers describes it, feels like a fantastically fresh departure. Fausto is a pompous, pinstripe-suited man with a twirly moustache and a desire to own the natural world. "Tree, you are mine," he shouts before moving on to the lake as the tree bows obediently. More spare in text and imagery than its predecessors, it's a tale full of suggestion with expanses of white page wittily used as pregnant pauses and punctuation. In an age of exquisite picture books, this is possibly the most beautiful of the year. Made with traditional lithographic printmaking techniques, neon pink and yellow shades zing against an earthier palette of green, teal and brown. The aggressive, bullying Fausto is both timeless and utterly of our age (straight out of Westminster, you could say). As he fizzes with rage and makes demands even a toddler would find ridiculous, he's also very funny. He's last seen stepping out of his boat to stamp on the obstinate sea.
Kirkus Review
A cautionary fable on the banality of belligerence.Faustodapper, balding, and tanned (but presenting white)believes he owns everything and sets out to prove it. "You are mine," he declares to everything he meets, from a flower to a mountain, compelling increasingly reluctant submission by yelling, clenching his fist, and stomping. Only the sea denies him, asking how he could own anything he doesn't even love, and inviting Fausto to make good on his angry threat to show it who's boss. Trying to stomp on the sea (combined with an inability to swim) ends predictably for Faustowhereupon all of the overgrown toddler's "possessions" go on about their business, indifferent to his fate. With typically measured minimalism Jeffers relates this timely episode in prose and gestural images so spare that they frequently give way to single lines and even blank pages. In place of an explicit moral, he closes with an anecdote from Kurt Vonnegut, who quotes fellow writer Joseph Heller's insight that "the knowledge that I've got enough" gave him a leg up over any billionaire. Even readers too young or unschooled to catch the reference in the title character's name will chime in on Vonnegut's summation: "Not bad! Rest in peace!" Whether aimed at certain public figures or all of us, a pointed suggestion that tantrums bring but temporary, superficial rewards. (Picture book. 7-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Convinced that he owns or controls everything, Mr. Fausto sets out to declare his power. A flower, a sheep, a tree, a field, a forest, and a lake all accept his claims; only the mountain resists, and then only until Fausto tantrums. But when he asserts dominion over the sea, it verbally spars with him, finally convincing Fausto to step into the water to demonstrate his rage. Alas, in his quest for omnipotence, Fausto has forgotten that he does not swim. Jeffers combines a succinct text with minimalist art that features simple objects set against white backgrounds, and a few art-free spreads. Fausto is a balding, mustachioed white man sporting a three-piece suit, whose nose generally tilts up, even mid outburst. Thematically reminiscent of Gerald McDermott's The Stonecutter (1975), this story may suggest political parallels to adults, while kids are more likely to read this as the dangers of greed. Appended with a quote from Kurt Vonnegut citing the value of having enough, this is a parable sure to spark lively discussions.--Kay Weisman Copyright 2019 Booklist
