In the Midnight Café, everyone is starving for something.

The animals who find this place have nowhere else to go. They cannot find their place in society, in their relationships, or even before God. This decrepit café has become a refuge. A place to hide from a world that has no place for them.

The Fly, the café's quiet owner, serves every animal that wanders into his café. He listens as they each search for belonging, only to arrive at the same painful realization: survival and true belonging cannot coexist.

Come, sit. The Fly has been waiting for you.

We Come Here to Starve is a hand-illustrated philosophical graphic novel about the tension between survival and belonging. A beautiful yet haunting allegory about the collapse of sanctuary, the moral compromises survival demands, and the dangerous hunger to be loved without having to change.

PLEASE READ:

This book explores themes of self-destruction, trauma, and faith. It includes discussions of suicide, abuse, and strong language. If those subjects may be triggering or upsetting for you, please reconsider whether this book is the right fit.

If you'd like to read Paige Parker's work but prefer gentler themes, consider her hand-illustrated book Observations on the Human Condition. A poetic, thought-provoking read that many find beautiful without being intense.