The Card

by Graham Rawle

Since childhood, Riley has been a keen collector of bubble gum cards. Now, thirty years later, the one card missing from his collection is the legendary card 19 from the 1967 Mission Impossible television series, of which only one exists.

One day a mysterious grey-haired man drops a playing card in a deserted alley. Riley picks it up. Is it a secret sign? Before long, he is finding all kinds of bubble gum and cigarette cards on the street, each one apparently containing a further hidden clue to a coded message. Will Riley rise to the challenge and discover the secret of the cards? And will he ever find illusive card 19?

Exquisitely written, extremely funny, and visually stunning, The Card is the utterly unforgettable story of a man who views the world - and everything in it - just a little bit differently from the rest of us.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

336 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2012

About the author

Graham Rawle was a British writer and collage artist whose visual work incorporates illustration, design, photography and installation. His weekly Lost Consonants series appeared in the Weekend Guardian for 15 years (1990–2005). He produced other regular series which included ‘Lying Doggo’ and ‘Graham Rawle’s Wonder Quiz’ for The Observer and ‘When Words Collide’ and ‘Pardon Mrs Arden’ for The Sunday Telegraph Magazine and 'Bright Ideas' for The Times.

Reviews

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rawle’s follow-up to the stunning Woman’s World is a more conventional comic novel about loveable card collector Riley who has been looking for the nineteenth in a series of Mission: Impossible cards since his childhood in the 1960s. Flash forward to 1997, where Riley discovers a series of cards that might embroil him a plot to assassinate Princess Diana and meets a woman who might be his ticket back into social normality, and you got the recipe for an oddball mystery romp. Rawle’s whimsical tale contains illustrated pictures of the playing cards and arty marginalia and reads more breezily than the surprising Woman’s World but is no less beguiling despite the absence of painstaking collage wowee. US release seems unlikely for a book crawling with UK celeb references from the 1970s, and the humour might be too parochial to travel. But Rawle’s other opus is indispensible.

[Nickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which the actress Minnie Driver is described thusly: "her sharp, dark features like a handful of currants pressed into a weightlifter's thigh."

[Chris Browning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rawle plays a very clever game here, with a flawed narrator cursed with seeing patterns everywhere, and a text littered with clues and hints to... something? Anything? Nothing? For a while I thought it was going to go seriously off the rails in the manner of the cursed Maxwell Sim which has put me off Jonathan Coe considerably: too clever by half, and backing itself into a corner while showing off and thusly needing a ludicrous bit of frantic fourth wall shoving to all come together. But no, Rawle rather sweetly is telling us more about the hero and his sense of confusion and loss in the world and how he clings to any signs of order to make sense of chaos. It’s if anything a book that builds itself up carefully and then swiftly reveals itself to be nothing to do with that design. It’s a book about a damaged man trying to understand a terrifying world. It’s a beautiful book visually and also in sentiment. It’s a bit messy and scrappy in places but the denouement is so nicely low key I think it’s worth the hiccups

[Vicky Parkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of The Card, in particular the humour which is so dry and so very British. A particular scene at a late night garage had me laughing out loud in a way that a piece of writing has never done before or since.

The imagery in The Card, is so wonderful. Every action is so vividly portrayed that you're almost right there with Riley watching all of the awkwardness unfold. Feeling his every discomfort and wanting to shout out to stop him as he's led astray by his bonkers neighbour and in hampering his chances with the woman he has fallen in love with.

Coupled with the masterful use of language that brings Riley come to life is the intriguing typography and graphics that add another layer of depth to this clever novel.

I could go on heaping praise on this book but risk spoiling the beauty of discovering all of its quirks and charms for the first time. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a copy of 'Womans World' soon to get another dose of Rawle in collage form.

[John Herbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an extraordinary read.
Quite frankly, I got on everyone's nerves by perpetually laughing and tittering out LOUD!!!
It's a crazy tale of a guy picking up bubble gum cards off the pavement and interpreting it to mean that he was required by the Secret Service to protect Princess Diana.
No matter how many people attempt to put him straight he always finds the logic to twist it back his way.
And the style of writing is whimsical, but in a delightful and magical way.
I'm definitely keeping this book for one glorious reason - I happened to be reading this book at the saddest moment of my life, and yet it kept me sane in an absolutely insane way. Gobbledegook - I know - but, hey, just go read it, ignore the implausibility of it all, and have a damn good laugh!!!

[Lili · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book grew on me as I read it, seemed a bit like a gimmicky, not-as-well-written version of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. I then got caught up in Riley's 'mission' and I liked the realistic, noir-style illustrations. It was very funny and Riley was a great character who always refers everything back to celebrities (often obscure) and who always gets into ridiculous conversations. Although it's a bit gimmicky and silly, it is definitely worth a read.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this really deserves being called a unique book! Clues, pictures and a totally off the wall plot. I really don't want to say much because the charm really lies with taking a chance and exploring yourself ...

Oh a minor criticism, the book is blummin heavy with the current paper it's printed on!

[Vinnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this truly funny and touching story is an afternoon. Really likeable characters in really likely settings act out a completely lovely, but unlikely story.

[Anna Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful funny read from beginning to end, I raced through it in a few days and loved every minute .. could have had a stronger end but still highly recommended ...

[Rakesh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some people try to make sense of the world through religion. Others apparently try to do so through collectible cards. A goofy adventure that is fun and funny.

[Nicola]

I am a big fan of this author's Lost Consonants series, and also love word puzzles, acrostics, odd coincidences and finding significance in serendipitous connections. This book was therefore a perfect fit and I think perhaps only Graham Rawle could have written it. It's hero, the alliterative Riley Richardson, just can't stop himself seeing connections when someone seems to be leaving cards - playing cards, cigarette cards- for him to find in the street. The book manages to be both very silly and very touching, as Riley reconstructs a sad story from his past together with a budding romance in the present, put into jeopardy by his inability to stop finding meaning in apparent coincidence. I'm not as knowledgeable as the author about the 60s spy shows, notably Mission: Impossible, but Rawles's brilliant invention and illustration of collectible cards of the time is perfect. He's also master of the unexpected simile: Gypsy Angelina who reads his palm takes his hand and "flopped it this way and that, as if breading a pork cutlet". If you enjoy references to somewhat forgotten celebrities of the UK of the 60s and appreciate a truly wonderful ear, and eye, for the language, attitudes and fashions of that time, this book delivers high entertainment along with surprising poignancy.

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

TW: G slur for Romani people, P slur for gay men, infidelity, parental abandonment, stalking by side character


What an unfortunately boring cover to go with a incredibly beautifully illustrated and designed book!

Very much like a Lemony Snicket novel, with humour and an odd but vaugly possible, if not still utterly ridiculous plot device. You second guess yourself on the protagonist's mission, is it real? In his head? And by gosh can more books have fun symbols in the margins please?

[Stephen Hull · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted this to be better than it was, being written by Graham Rawle, who produced the incredibly great Lost Consonants cartoon series that appeared in the Grauniad years ago. While it was a reasonably engaging story (complete with wonderful illustrations by the author) it never quite seemed to take off. Still, a pleasant enough diversion for a few days.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute delight! Inventive, witty and sweet with visual cues and bubblegum card clues scattered throughout to propel us on a quirky mission with a narrator and cast of characters that are oddly and charmingly eccentric. And in light of having recently suffered through the Diana years in the last season of The Crown, this read was heart tugging as well.

[Adam Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

An extremely original and thought provoking novel. In places very funny.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good to start with and it did make me laugh out loud at times, by the ending was disappointing.