Something More Pleasant?

I just finished Roz Chast's graphic novel Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? There are words I don't like to use because they only appear in stuffy book reviews: "unflinching," "carefully observed," "towering achievement." But what a book.

Chast writes and draws about shepherding her neurotic, difficult parents through the end of their lives in a way that'll make you both love and hate them, and want to give Chast a hug. The highest compliment I can give Chast is that she's honest, particularly about herself. Her book is (I can't think of another way to say it) an unflinching, carefully observed, towering achievement.

My friends in Graphic Medicine should pay attention, it's a big contribution to the field.