Sean Fitzgibbon’s What Follows Is True

The Crescent Hotel is one of the most famous attractions in Eureka Springs, so it is also one of the most famous attractions in Carroll County. It has a long history and not just as a hotel. For a few infamous years in the 1930s, it was also a quack cancer hospital run by the infamous Norman Baker, who fleeced desperate patients and their families out of money.

Sean Fitzgibbon’s stunning graphic novel What Follows Is True: Crescent Hotel documents Baker’s rise and fall and his time at the Crescent while also contextualizing the story within the backdrop of the hotel and town’s more general history and the author’s time researching it all.

It’s a thoughtful, thought-provoking book that doesn’t sensationalize this aspect of Crescent history while also not shying away from the darker side of its history. Fitzgibbon is an artist who also teaches at the University of Arkansas, and his gorgeous, atmospheric, eerie illustrations perfectly capture the story, whether it is the horrors of Baker’s hospital, the stately grandeur of the Crescent, or the charming quirkiness of Eureka Springs’ geography.

I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in local history, as well as fans of true crime and graphic novels. It’s a fantastic book.

We’d also love to have you join us on Saturday, October 19, when Sean will be joining author Molly May and us at our Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction author talk at Carroll Electric’s Community Room. Sean will be talking about this book and Molly will be talking about Witnesses for the Lamb, which I reviewed a couple of years ago. We’ll also have door prizes and a book signing. A special thank you to Poncho Goldstein’s Irish Pub and Collins Construction and Concrete, who are sponsoring the event. Hope to see you there!