<DIV><B>Poetic musings on illness and the art of getting by from a mini-comics master</B><BR><BR></P></DIV><I>The Hospital Suite</I> is a landmark work by the celebrated cartoonist and small-press legend John Porcellino—an autobiographical collection detailing his struggles with illness in the 1990s and early 2000s.<BR> In 1997, John began to have severe stomach pain. He soon found out he needed emergency surgery to remove a benign tumor from his small intestine. In the wake of the surgery, he had numerous health complications that led to a flare-up of his preexisting tendencies toward anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. <I>The Hospital Suite</I> is Porcellino’s response to these experiences—simply told stories drawn in the honest, heart-wrenching style of his much-loved <I>King-Cat </I>mini-comics. His gift for spare yet eloquent candor makes <I>The Hospital Suite</I> an intimate portrayal of one person’s experiences that is also intensely relatable.<BR> Porcellino’s work is lauded for its universality and quiet, clear-eyed contemplation of everyday life. <I>The Hospital Suite</I> is a testimony to this subtle strength, making his struggles with the medical system and its consequences for his mental health accessible and engaging.