Jack’s review of Et Tu, Brute?: The Deaths of the Roman Emperors > Likes and Comments
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It’s because many years ago I worked at a fish market with a guy named Mike Duncan who would go on to start a successful podcast about the Roman Empire. So when he was in the middle of working on what would become his first book, he asked me if I would be interested in illustrating it. Then I didn’t hear from him again, his book came out, and it was a New York Times bestseller. I’d dumped a bunch of time and research into drawing Roman stuff and felt like maybe there was some way of salvaging all that sunk time and effort, and thought maybe a book about Roman emperors would be a good allegory for the Trump years. I’d hoped it would be taken for the coy political commentary it was meant to be. But the book was a failure conceptually and commercially, and is now just a source of pain and discomfort. For what it’s worth, I know women who like it, but I’m a gen-Xer and was pressed hard growing up not to stereotype genders.
Well. First time I've had an author respond to a comment, my apologies if my snarky remark caused genuine discomfort. For what it's worth, the main drag was the introduction. Sans that first 6-10 pages, I'd say it's a fun read, pretty creative, and probably deserves an extra star.
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Jason
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Jul 04, 2024 12:28PM
It’s because many years ago I worked at a fish market with a guy named Mike Duncan who would go on to start a successful podcast about the Roman Empire. So when he was in the middle of working on what would become his first book, he asked me if I would be interested in illustrating it. Then I didn’t hear from him again, his book came out, and it was a New York Times bestseller. I’d dumped a bunch of time and research into drawing Roman stuff and felt like maybe there was some way of salvaging all that sunk time and effort, and thought maybe a book about Roman emperors would be a good allegory for the Trump years. I’d hoped it would be taken for the coy political commentary it was meant to be. But the book was a failure conceptually and commercially, and is now just a source of pain and discomfort. For what it’s worth, I know women who like it, but I’m a gen-Xer and was pressed hard growing up not to stereotype genders.
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Well. First time I've had an author respond to a comment, my apologies if my snarky remark caused genuine discomfort. For what it's worth, the main drag was the introduction. Sans that first 6-10 pages, I'd say it's a fun read, pretty creative, and probably deserves an extra star.
