Temperance

"Do concepts life war and enemies hold a people together? Does conflict have an irresistible cultural momentum? These are the questions the cartoonist Cathy Malkasian explores in Temperance. After a brutal injury sustained in battle, Lester has no memory of his prior life. For the next thirty years his wife does everything to keep him from remembering-- and re-constructing-- a society, Blessedbowl, that has since elevated him as a hero. Blessedbowl is a cultural convergence of lies, memories, stories, and beliefs. Its people thrive on ideas of persecution, exceptionalism, and enemies,…