Solutions and Other Problems
2020
- nyt:advice-how-to-and-miscellaneous=2020-10-11
- comics & graphic novels, nonfiction, biography & memoir
- cartoonists
- comic books, strips
- biography
- pictorial american wit and humor
- humour par l'image américain
- autobiographical comic books, strips
- humor, form, comic strips & cartoons
The story
Allie Brosh returns with a new collection of comedic, autobiographical, and illustrated essays. *Solutions and Other Problems* includes humorous stories from Allie Brosh’s childhood; the adventures of her very bad animals; merciless dissection of her own character flaws; incisive essays on grief, loneliness, and powerlessness; as well as reflections on the absurdity of modern life. This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features all-new material with more than 1,600 pieces of art.
What it’s like
Bright, loose, hand-drawn panels in crayon-simple line work, with thick marker outlines, flat washed colour and plenty of blank white space around stick-figure bodies and wobbly speech bubbles, so each page reads like a sketchbook someone has drawn in directly. The rhythm is quick and punchy: a single panel can land a joke, then a long run of tiny frames pulls the reader through a childhood anecdote or a rambling aside about a dog and a cat behaving badly. Some stretches turn sudden and quiet, with a stark drawing and a few lines of sincere text about grief, loneliness or helplessness, then the pace snaps back to absurdity. The voice is candid, self-deprecating and oddly tender, and the emotional register swings between cringing laughter and a reflective ache. Intensity is low: there is no gore or sexual content, and the dark moments concern sadness, depression and anxiety rather than violence, though they can hit hard. It suits a rainy Sunday read, a flight, or a stretch of time to fill with something you can dip into page by page. It is for readers who like honest, funny, self-aware memoir and who don't mind their comedy arriving with a lump in the throat.
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