My Solo Exchange Diary Vol. 1: The Sequel to My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness

I remember reading Fun Home and the diaries of Ariel Schrag as a baby gay and feeling seen, probably for the first time.

Reading Nagata Kabi’s works feels the same way. We need graphic, well told stories of the queer experience out there. The fact that these diaries also are so much about the feelings of isolation so prevalent to the human experience make them practically essential texts.

I don’t know, I just feel like she’s a major talent and it makes me feel so good when I’m at my lowest points not to feel alone. Her work definitely makes me want to create, and that’s no small thing for someone who hates so much of what he does as much as I do.

Anxiety about family, friends, work, sex, and overall enjoyment of life explored in show more painstaking detail, with humor and humanity. I’m obsessed. show less

The emotional dissonance Kabi felt in both loving and resenting her family, how that sent her into a spiraling depression, trying desperately to find out what she needs in life to be happy, striving for it but not realizing her happiness, and coming to these tiny realizations about herself and her life, but being unable to do anything initially, and then finally achieving something that resembles independence and a hope for being loved and being able to love in return - all of it resonated so deeply with me. A big part of me wants this story to be a work of fiction because it hits so close to home, and I’m somewhat afraid of what the next volume will bring. However, I’m rooting so hard for Kabi, and myself by proxy, and I want to show more find out if she somehow makes it to a place that resembles happiness, or if her struggle will just continue. show less

Ah shit, this is so good.

I loved My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness and basically finished it in one go. I also loved this one, but I very deliberately read it bit by bit, spread out over several days.

What I expected was, I don't know, more escort agency experiences maybe? But that's not what this volume is about. Instead, it struck me right in the feels with images for depression, for loneliness, with discussions of emotionally abusive parents and what it means to get away from them.

I cried a lot towards the end. I really hadn't expected this to be so relatable.

A solid follow-up to the unique first volume. The author continues to make use of sex workers to alleviate her loneliness and lack of human contact. She also continues to struggle with depression and anxiety.

I like how she formats the book as diary entries that she writes to herself, cheering on her future self or consoling her past self as she struggles through multiple attempts to move out of her parents' house and tries to establish some independence as she nears 30.

The possibility of actually entering a real romantic relationship lends the book energy as it enters the closing stretch.

I think we all just wanna hug her, and then pinch her. Like, with nails. It's nice to catch up with her and her honesty and see how she's learned. It's weird to read about her writing what I'm reading, and it feels so present and close; weirdly, the most 'real' feeling nonfic I've read? It's like a direct conversation.

Starts slow and a little frustrating, but that frustration—with someone who can reflect on their struggle but not extract themselves from it—was good for me to sit with, because it goes somewhere good and insightful.

Raw, painful, resonant exploration of life, family, relationships, and loneliness. Truly excellent. Definitely touched on many relatable issues in my own experience. Art is extremely expressive, capturing feels in the most visceral of ways.