What if John Muir or Henry David Thoreau created a comic book about their wanderings through the American landscape? What would the soundtrack of places like Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland or Vancouver sound like? And what peripeteia do they solve in a place with a famous sign from the TV series Twin Peaks? Jindřich Janíček has compiled a travel diary from north-west of the United States. He makes full use of his fascination with American geography, folklore and pop culture. The author tries to preserve in his memory experiences that he could hardly describe in words to his friends and acquaintances. His narrative does not lack the wonder and amazement of discovery, nor the pleasantly omnipresent self-irony. We observe bridges, road junctions, bays, small local heritage sites or ordinary neighborhoods not found in the guidebook. Comic passages are interspersed with illustrated prose enhanced by encyclopedic trivia, drawings, maps or diagrams. Janicek's love of American songwriting completes the experience, so the comic has its own imaginary musical accompaniment by Julian Baker, Talking Heads or Sun Kill Moon.


Jindřich Janíček (*1990) was born in Znojmo, graduated from Tomáš Baťa University in Zlín and the Illustration Studio at UMPRUM. He is a winner of the Czech Grand Design Award and a sought-after book designer and illustrator. Together with Nikola Janíčková runs the Take Take Take bookshop and publishing house with the motto "slowly we read, slowly we publish ". For his comic B jako běžec (2021) he received the Muriel Award for Best cartoonist from the Czech Comics Academy.