Verdict: 5 Stars
This book should come with a warning: Don’t even open the cover until you’ve got your adult diapers firmly in place. Even from the Introduction, Brosh will have you crossing your legs while you laugh.
Fans of Brosh’s blog, Hyperbole and a Half, turned out to purchase the author’s debut graphic novel (Touchstone), complete with her intentionally crudely drawn illustrations that just put the finishing touches on her amazing storytelling capability. In what is probably not even close to the weirdest thing about this book, it is at this very moment the number one bestseller on Amazon in the Love/Sex/Marriage, Satire, and Biography & History Graphic Novels categories. There’s not a metadata genius on Earth who can explain that.
For the most part, Brosh’s writing serves as an amazingly hilarious cautionary tale for the rest of us. Our lives look stellar in comparison, and that’s even if we were facing jail time for a minor but repeat offense. However, the author also pours open several veins when she tackles the topics of self-loathing and clinical depression, even while making you laugh.
Some of the criticisms of this graphic novel have been that there’s not enough new material, citing that most of the content within the book has been posted previously on the author’s blog. While frustrating for longtime fans of the site, new readers will delight in the side-splitting stories; additionally, a number of well-known bestselling titles that were curated from popular blogs contain previously published content. Readers will still enjoy having a collected volume of their favorite Brosh stories.
The Hyperbole and a Half book is available now.
Mercy Pilkington is a Senior Editor for Good e-Reader. She is also the CEO and founder of a hybrid publishing and consulting company.