Benoît Jacques Publishes 365-Page Graphic Diary Little Did I Know
Author and publisher Benoît Jacques has released his massive graphic journal, Little Did I Know (published in French as Du peu que je savais), through French publishing house Le Tripode. The ambitious work spans 365 pages and required nearly eight years to complete, taking shape between November 24, 2017, and September 26, 2025.
The book functions as an intimate logbook examining the creative process, personal doubts, and existential questions following a prostate cancer diagnosis and a decade-long psychoanalysis. Jacques constructed the project without a preliminary script or rough sketches, embracing the same improvisational method he previously used for his 2010 crisis journal L, published by L’Association, which served as his very first crisis logbook in 2007-2009 following a painful separation. While L contained roughly 220 pages, the new volume expands significantly on color, text, and narrative depth.
Eight Years of Creation and Improvisation
Working in parallel with his regular publishing duties at Benoît Jacques Books—where he has maintained a high level of productivity since starting out as an author and publisher in 1989—Jacques approached the project as an unscripted exercise in letting go. The author deliberately avoided the storyboard perfection common in commercial press illustration, a medium where he spent twelve years working in London during the 1980s after abandoning graphic communication studies. Between 2008, marking his mid-life crisis as someone born in Brussels in 1958, and 2017—the year he turned a corner after enduring a divorce following thirty-three years of shared life, a new life with a new partner who sadly passed away in 2013, and a prostate cancer diagnosis from which he emerged rather well—the author felt he had hit rock bottom.
The narrative features recurring alter egos, including Captain Ça and Commodore Jean-Jacques Trousseau, alongside historical and fictional figures such as Victor Hugo and Lucy the Australopithecus.
Structuring the Unfiltered Self-Exploration
The resulting 384-page volume retails for €35. Jacques deliberately retained the spontaneous flow of the document, which alternated between sudden bursts of inspiration and the surgement of his anxieties.
The book blurs the boundaries between traditional comic strips and other forms, as the author assumes his role as a comic book author. Rather than offering a neat narrative arc, the journal records the chaotic cadence of the subconscious.
Frequently Asked Questions About Little Did I Know
What is the publishing history of Little Did I Know?
Benoît Jacques created the journal between November 24, 2017, and September 26, 2025.
How does this book compare to Benoît Jacques’s earlier work L?
Both books served as unscripted personal journals created during challenging life events, but Little Did I Know spans 365 pages over eight years, whereas the 2010 work L contained approximately 220 plates created across two years following a painful separation.
What inspired the title and thematic elements of the book?
The English title reflects Jacques’s formative years living in London during the 1980s. The narrative addresses the author’s recovery from a 2017 prostate cancer diagnosis, the conclusion of a ten-year psychoanalysis, and his lifelong inclination to execute creative projects entirely by himself.
Worth a look