The Field

“This might be the best story about childhood that I’ve ever read (or heard). It’s a masterpiece.” —Chester Brown

Dave Lapp’s new memoir unpacks a long, hazy 1970s summer and reveals that when we look beyond nostalgia, childhood is complicated—and rarely innocent.

Dave’s on the verge of summer vacation and change is on the horizon. Developers have begun digging up a field on the edges of Dave’s universally familiar small town, presenting endless nooks and crannies for Dave and his fearless friend Edward to explore.

Over the course of the summer, while the town’s adults remain focused on their fractured marriages and neighbourly resentments, the children are allowed to run wild in the field, collecting caterpillars and tadpoles, catching field mice (which they smuggle home), and nursing a curious fascination with Dave’s mother’s matches and their potential for disaster.

As the summer meanders on, Edward brings a new friend into the circle. But Jack’s got a mean streak that’s strong enough to flip Dave’s world–and his place in it—upside down.

“Lapp succeeds in providing a memorable perspective on the wonder, cruelty, confusion, misery, and joy of a childhood spent largely independently. –Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

David Lapp is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and the University of Western Ontario. He has been teaching cartooning at the Art Gallery of Ontario for over twenty years. Dave has created three graphic novels, Drop In, Children of the Atom, and People Around Here, which have been published by Conundrum Press. Dave’s work was chosen for the Best American Comics series for 2010, 2011, and 2016. His work has also been nominated for an Ignatz and a Doug Wright award.

Publication Details

ISBN 9781772620948
8.5 x 6.5 inches
540 b&w pages
trade paperback
May 2024