Reaching across the Atlantic, Canadian publisher Conundrum Press will publish What We Need to Know by Belgian cartoonist Willy Linthout in May.

Linthout's first book on these shores was The Years of the Elephant, about a father trying to cope with his son's suicide, published in 2010 by Fanfare/Ponent Mon. This new book, Conundrum's description notes, is a sequel to Years, which won the Flemish Bronzen Adhemar.

[What We Need to Know] uses a wide-angle lens to encompass the entire family, specifically three brothers who each need to cope with their own ghosts. The style of both these autobiographical books is done in pencils without inks, in other words a rough and unfinished look, which perfectly matches the psychological state of the characters. Fortunately, they can consult “The Book” in emergencies. In that magic reference work, the famous artist WL’s mother has collected innumerable facts, recipes, and advice, in essence, what we need to know about life.

Conundrum was kind enough to provide us with a preview of the book, which you can see below.