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Blue

A St. Barts Memoir

Published by powerHouse Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
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About The Book

He gained instant fans around the world with tales of his family's many years visiting Paris in winter. Now David Coggins brings to curious, travel-loving readers the same degree of enviable stories and charming illustrations, this time from St. Barts--a perfect compliment to the first book in the series.

Blue: A St. Barts Memoir by artist and writer David Coggins is an affectionate, poetic account of his family's annual visits to St. Barthelemy in the French West Indies. As in his popular Paris in Winter, the pages of Blue are full of lyrical writing and vivid watercolors and ink drawings.

Coggins and his family have a passion for the simple yet sophisticated pleasures of life on the beautiful French island. That passion is contagious, and the reader is soon caught up in rituals developed and refined over 20 years. Much of it centers around the mountain villa where they stay and the timeless joys of the Caribbean: swimming, reading, sailing, meals overlooking the sea.

Coggins describes the natural world lovingly, and captures it in his drawings--sublime sky and sea, lush tropical gardens, abundant wildlife from iguanas to whales. He writes about social life, about the famous and glamorous but more about people who live on the island, chefs, artists, wine sellers, sailors.

Blue is a delight for the eye and the mind, an antidote to the pressures of urban life. It's a deeply personal telling of one family's experiences in an idyllic setting, but Coggins's gifts as storyteller and illustrator, conveyed with humanity and a love of life, make Blue universally enchanting.

About The Author

David Coggins is an award-winning writer, artist, and set designer. Books by Coggins include Word Jazz (2022), Duet (2021), Blue: A St. Barts Memoir (2018), Paris in Winter: An Illustrated Memoir (2015), Eden Summer Collages (2008), and The Nostalgic Heart (2006), among others. His eight-volume set of the Daybooks, published under the pseudonym Robert Carolina, is in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

Coggins’ paintings, drawings, and collages have been exhibited in Paris, London, and Santiago, Chile as well as in U.S. galleries. He has also designed for a number of U.S. theaters including Théâtre de la Jeune Lune, Guthrie Theater, and La Jolla Theater. Coggins currently lives with his wife Wendy in Minneapolis and his loft studio located in an old warehouse was featured in Cabana Magazine's online blog.

Product Details

  • Publisher: powerHouse Books (October 16, 2018)
  • Length: 264 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781576878972

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Raves and Reviews

"Cogginsseamlessly weaves his captivating mini-masterpieces into the text and, in so doing, skillfully harmonises both modes of storytelling."

– AnOther

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