Keiler Roberts

I thought I'd give Roberts one more shot after not particularly enjoying [book:Sunburning|31945211] since several of my Goodreads friends rate her work so highly. But her appeal continues to elude me.

Once again, the nature of her short little strips gives equal weight to the tedious cute-things-my-daughter-says strips as the ones dealing with multiple sclerosis and the death of a grandparent. If she expanded on one of the serious topics, I feel like I might like to experience her insights. show more But the numerous slice-of-life strips and attempts at humor just keep killing any slight gains in momentum. show less

This doesn't seem to be a graphic novel as much as a collection of one- and two-page strips. There are no transitions or story flow or even context as the memoirist skips from anecdote to anecdote. In the end she gives more weight to "cute things my daughter says/does" strips than to the ones dealing with her bipolar condition and miscarriage. That misbalance results in page after page of the most mundane slice of life scenes. Reading the book felt like getting cornered by a chatty aunt at a show more family reunion. She natters along thoughtlessly, dropping family tragedy bombs into her drone of cute kitten and toddler stories, giving you an unstructured and maddening giant-ass information dump that just leaves you looking for a chance to escape her clutches. show less

I just don't get the appeal of Keiler Roberts, and I'm done trying.

After reading Sunburning and Chlorine Gardens, I wasn't planning to seek out her work anymore. But I decided to make a project of reading all the graphic novels on NPR's and Publishers Weekly best of 2021 lists, and both of them included My Begging Chart so my compulsive nature demanded another go round with her. I read the first 40 pages cautiously optimistic that this was the book where I finally got it, why critics and show more several of my Goodreads friends like her strips so much.

But nope.

I hate read the rest of the book, resenting the pure tedium of sharing tiny moments of her days. Soooooooooooooo many strips about her daughter saying something Roberts finds cute or amusing. Many strips where Roberts talks to people she doesn't even bother to introduce. Many strips striving to get as close to being about nothing as humanly possible short of just leaving the page blank.

Maddening.

No more for me, thank you. Make me read Ziggy. Make me read B.C. or Garfield lasagna strips or even those godawful "Love Is . . . " panels with the little naked people. Just no more Keiler Roberts, please. show less

Keiler Roberts graphic autobiography about being married with a toddler and MS is full of humor and is a fun read. Her story is told in black and white comic strips drawn in a childlike style. It is a collection of a decade of her work that was previously published in five separate titles. The titles are Powdered Milk (2012), Miseryland (2015), Sunburning (2017), Chlorine Gardens (2018) and Rat Time (2019). 8 years of Roberts' life is covered in this book.

The author uses dry humor to tell show more her story. It was enjoyable but I had to take it in small doses. I put the book down quite a few times before finishing its 264 pages this week. Daughter Xia provides alot of the comedy as does her husband, and parents. Xia is the real comedian though. The reader gets to listen in on Roberts' random thoughts and mostly they are silly. Some are so mundane that they're boring, giving the reader a less than experience. show less