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Low pick. I liked it better than Are You My Mother? but not as much as Fun Home. Alison Bechdel takes us through her life using the sports and exercises she was into at various times. She also connects these to her psychological state. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Kerouac, and other literary figures show up occasionally, but I‘m not as sure of the reason for that except she‘s comparing her state of mind to theirs. No walk; I twisted my knee. 😞

Loved this clever graphic novel about exercise, aging, life‘s troubles, relationships, creativity and philosophies. Bechdel is a honest viewer of life.

FYI for readers to go into this book with the right mindset, I think it's important to describe this as a text-heavy graphic novel, a memoir of an individual recounting how they experience the personal highs and lows, strivings and insights of each decade. Yes, examining the author's relationship to exercise is a major theme, but so is examining the author's romantic relationships, examining sense of self, substance abuse(?), workaholism.

Mood.

Billed as a graphic novel about exercise (Bechdel herself refers to this as “the fitness book”) but this is so much more than that. Best known for Fun Home, the author turns her focus to her own life, decade by decade, chronicling her relationships, career, moves, and even path to enlightenment. All of this is framed by her changing interests in physical activity, Margaret Fuller, Jack Kerouac, and so much more. I can‘t do this work justice. Epic.

So many books!

We‘ll see if I‘m superhuman tomorrow after staying up WAY past my bedtime finishing this treasure.

My one achievement of the week and the most important…#jolablokaflod is on its way!

Not my favorite Bechdel, but still contained plenty of her beautiful, signature interconnectedness that always leaves me entranced. Felt a little more scattered, less focused, and more rushed than her previous memoirs. Perhaps that was all intentional and part of her meditation on being human and falling in love with that fact after many, many struggles against it

Finally chipped down my #librarystack enough to pick up some more new titles tonight 😍. Should be finishing Bechdel in a day or two, then I should really finish Hold Still since I‘ve run out of renewals on that one 🙃

A little weekend escape to Palm Springs. Boyfriend and I are reading comics side by side at the pool. He‘s got a Sandman and I‘ve got the latest Bechdel 🤓😎

This is more memoir, and exercise as shown to process Bechdel‘s life. Detailed drawings that were enjoyable to read. Made me think about how my own journey of exercise mirrors my own process of life events. I thought this would be more about exercise, but it‘s really more of a themed memoir.

Alison Bechdel's last book is fantastic. Her artwork is even more expressive and detailed than in Fun Home. So glad I was made aware of it thanks to Charl08's posts, and was able to download it from scribd (despite a few missing pages 😒).

Life. "How many levels does this game have?"

Brilliant.

(Although read Fun Home first.)

I do love a good footnote.

Autographed! Woo. 😍

Stuck inside until Thursday.
Thank goodness for online book shopping.

I wouldn‘t have thought it possible but Alison Bechdel‘s art just keeps getting better. In this volume of graphic memoir she brilliantly observes the consumerism surrounding physical fitness, tying in theories of Buddhism, the Romantics & Transcendentalists, & writings of Jack Kerouac, Adrienne Rich etc. It‘s funny and smart and I kept recognizing stuff from my own life, which isn‘t surprising since we‘re the same age. Full colour artwork too!

I've done my June stats but I'm way behind in reviews. Tagged is one of my favourites this month.

Yep, I feel the same way about Star Trek costume designers.

As thrilled with this read as I am with my new rainbow hair! Alison Bechdel dives deep as always in this memoir of her journey through physical fitness, work, and the creative life. ❤

“Buddhist Bits -N- Bobs”

Each panel rewards examination. The visual answer to the question about the missing police brutality headline. The reminder that police brutality is an ongoing issue. That smoking at work is no longer a common issue. I‘ve cut off the left half of this panel, so you can‘t see the story Alison is pasting up: it‘s about women and AIDS. A colleague in a skinny tie (so 80s!) says “If AIDS is god punishing gays, lesbians must be god‘s chosen people.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson giving what Bechtel calls a “19th-century TED talk.” This kind of sly levity is what makes reading her work so delightful.

This is an amazing piece of philosophy and art!!

The book trajectory is laid out the the above panels. Alison looked at how her pursuit of various types of exercise (skiing, biking, yoga, etc.) affected her relationships and her own body/mind connection. She studied Buddhism, Kerouac, Margaret Fuller, the Romantics, and the Transcendentalists and looked at how their work deepened her understanding of her own.

Pride month starts with the new Alison Bechdel!

I‘m not sure if I ever read Fun Home but I‘ll never forget seeing the musical in New York. How could something so dramatic and traumatic be so freakin‘ hilarious?! I must confess that I feel like a lot of this book went over my head but still I enjoyed it and rooted for Bechdel to find her way. I particularly loved the last segment - reflective about COVID and creativity under stress and how nature, exercise, and good relationships help us.

On the surface this graphic memoir is about fitness, told in decades of Bechdel's life and moving through activities like skiing, running, biking, yoga, and martial arts. But it's a deep meditation on the interwovenness of the body and mind, the search to escape the prison of your own ego, romanticism (the literary/aesthetic movement), and the profound power of nature. The art is exquisite with detail, movement, and expression. I loved this!

I can't stomach hearing the notoriously transphobic michigan womyn's music festival uncritically praised in 2021. Fuck that.

Can't wait to start this! #QueerBooks #LGBTQBooks

We can all agree that April was too short right? Which is why I'm just now posting my April #bookspinbingo on May 2nd.

4/5

This book is a look at Bechdel's through the lens of the body. She talks about not just physical activity, but transcendentalism, romanticism, and Buddhism in her journey to to figure out life and living through the years. It's a fascinating and beautiful journey.

Alison Bechdel examines her life through the perspective of physical fitness as she explores popular fitness crazes through each decade and her own dedication and desire for fitness. Along the way, she explores history, literature, philosophy, Buddhism, sexuality, her own creativity and her struggles with interdependence on others. Highly recommended.

[I received an advanced e-galley of this memoir from #Netgalley.]

#3WordReviews @ShyBookOwl
Insightful. Funny. Visual delight.
#TheSecrettoSuperhumanStrength #NetGalley
Absolute delight of a book