Separated into thematic and chronological sections the novel highlights the prevailing influences of Bacon's life and times: his early autodidacticism and estrangement from his family; his struggles to make his way as a surrealist painter and his destruction of his early work. It traces his gradual success in postwar Europe, his powerful and often violent romantic relationships, his foray into portraiture, and his never-ending search for subject matter and meaning in his work. Alternating between full-page illustrations and smaller, captioned works, Portolano imagines not only the known details of Bacon's biography, but also his inner life--the dreams, fears, and obsessions that were equally formidable underpinnings of his oeuvre. Woven to­gether with historical facts and figures, this graphic novel reconstructs a life as only a cartoonist could--image led, thoughtfully composed, and deeply evocative of its subject matter.