Spent A comic novel

Review by Booklist Review

More akin to her long-running Dykes to Watch Out For series than her genre-redefining graphic memoirs (Fun Home, 2006; Are You My Mother?, 2012), Bechdel's first novel-length work of comic fiction is about a cartoonist named Alison who lives on a Vermont goat farm. It's also a whole lot of Bechdelian fun. Spent explores money's corruption of art and the environment, sex and evolving sexual identity in the second half of life, generational differences, and modes of rebellion with trademark wise perceptions, wicked humor, and Bechdel's ever-present tenderness for her characters. Alison and partner Holly love farm life, even if it requires much labor as well as capital--in the form of profits from Alison's writing projects--to fund it. Alison and Holly regularly catch up with their communal-living friends, among them Sparrow and Stuart, who, their only child off to college, are exploring a sexy mutual crush. As the cast's adventures multiply (and pages pretty much flip themselves), Bechdel's neat, cheery, expressive cartoons are hued in a brightly saturated palette by Holly Rae Taylor. One extremely pleasing set piece is the bevy of cats populating many farm scenes. Entertaining frame by frame and edifying in its larger picture, Bechdel's "first novel" is undoubtedly one to watch out for.

From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.

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Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

In this self-deprecating and delightful graphic novel from Eisner winner Bechdel (Fun Home), an archly fictionalized Alison finds herself flummoxed by commercial success. After her memoir, Death & Taxidermy, is adapted as a prestige show on a streaming platform, Alison and her partner Holly--a goat farmer with a popular YouTube channel--navigate the absurdities of the American economy (such as rounding up their $479 purchase of "wild-foraged" mushrooms to donate to charity) alongside their like-minded but less well-off friends. Alison wants to "stick it to the man" with a new book titled $um--"I just might put the final nail in the coffin of late-stage capitalism!" she dreams. "But first... what is late-stage capitalism?" Though each "episode" of the graphic novel shares the title of a chapter in Marx's Das Kapital, Bechdel's alter ego is alternately too confused, distracted, despairing, or creatively blocked to start a revolution. Meanwhile, her diverse crew of friends explore polyamory, and their college-age children emerge as the next generation of activists. The bold, full-color art displays Bechdel's signature style: detailed characters, assured panel work, and welcomely realistic representations of queer and older folks' naked bodies. Bechdel takes a gentle approach toward her well-meaning characters, but wields a razor-sharp scalpel when it comes to the indignities of modern life. For Bechdel's fans, it's a dream to see her skewer fame with such hilarious precision. Agent: Sydelle Kramer, Susan Rabiner Literary. (May)

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

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Review by Library Journal Review

Bechdel (Fun Home) applies her sharp storytelling and incisive eye for human behavior to this pseudo-memoir about an artist attempting to come to terms with her past success while exploring future avenues of artistic evolution. As she attempts to complete her latest book, the protagonist--modeled after Bechdel herself--finds herself juggling more than a few drains on her time and energy. The political and environmental causes dear to her require near constant attention, her sister keeps asking for help finishing her own manuscript, her partner is on the verge of becoming a social media influencer, and she's trying to develop and sell her idea for a reality show focused on helping people live more ethical lives. As the pressure builds, the fictional Bechdel finds herself compulsively overanalyzing her relationships, creative output, and daily life. Bechdel's unflinching honesty proves utterly gripping, as her willingness to expose her own vulnerabilities make this inquest into the nature of ambition, self-discipline, and the complexity of sharing one's life with both loved ones and the general public at once funny and poignant. VERDICT Bechdel's latest is a visually striking and deeply personal look at the complicated life of a modern artist.

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Review by Kirkus Book Review

The author ofAre You My Mother? (2012) andFun Home (2006) offers something that's not quite a memoir and thoroughly wonderful. We meet our protagonist, Alison Bechdel, when she's been shocked from sleep by a shotgun blast. It's her partner, Holly, trying to scare a bear away from the compost pile on their Vermont pygmy goat sanctuary. In addition to sharing a name, this character has a lot in common with her creator. Both are in middle age. Both made their names with a comic strip about lesbians. Both have written a much-lauded memoir in graphic-novel form. And both have seen their autobiographies refashioned by other artists. Bechdel the author could have written another story from her own point of view but, in creating an avatar, she gives herself some room to mess around, and the results are delightful. Alison the character is supposed to be finishing her next book, but she finds herself endlessly distracted. There's her sister, who wants Alison to edit her manuscript. There's a trio of old friends who have turned into a throuple. There's the fact that Holly's woodchopping videos and tool reviews are turning her into an Instagram influencer. And there's the way Alison is trying to escape finishing her book by selling a reality show that's kind of likeQueer Eye except that instead of making people look better she'll help them live more ethically within capitalism. As Bechdel lets the lives of her characters unfold, her words and pictures become the reality show. Alison and her friends are beautiful and ridiculous and ridiculously beautiful, and Bechdel is such a master of her craft that it might take a little while to appreciate what she does here. Bechdel is incisive, tender, and funny--often at the same time. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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