This 176 page hardcover, the latest from the Norwegian cartoonist (now living in France) known as Jason, is really a treat.

Jason is fully in his element here, with this trio of black & white tales, "The Magritte Affair", "Sweet Dreams", and the title track, "Death in Trieste", all of which revel in fatalistic romanticism in all its glory. 

Jason is the master of employing cultural figures from various strata of art, literature and music (and comics) and mixing them together despite their diverse eras – although often displaying a clear affinity for the 1920s.  These particular tales are also notable for being linked – tangentially – through the figure of David Bowie.  One way of looking at this recent work is that Jason is creating a self-portrait of the life of the mind  – in this case, his.  In a unique embodiment of the autobio genre, Jason shares with his readers the sources of his inspiration, as well as the relationships between them, as a way of revealing himself.  In a variation on the famous adage, "you are what you eat," Jason posits the thesis, "your identity is what you culturally consume."