SOLUTIONS AND OTHER PROBLEMS – ALLIE BROSH

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Solutions and Other Problems by Allie Brosh
My rating: 5/5 cats

Sometimes all you can really do is keep moving and hope you end up somewhere that makes sense.

no spoilers, but since everyone wants to know—was this book worth waiting more than five years for?

YES. DON’T BE A DUMMY, OF COURSE IT WAS!

it is bigger, funnier, sadder and—for those of you hoping—it does have more dumb dogs:

and one diabolically clever dog. and a cat.

i’m not going to post too many pictures, because you all deserve your own individual voyages of discovery, but FYI: the pictures i AM posting are from my ARC, which is in black-and-white—the finished book will be in full color.

i honestly don’t know how i was lucky enough to score an ARC of this, but it was exactly what i needed to get me thru another day of this dumpster fire of a year. and, in a gift that keeps giving—there are some pages in the ARC where the words are missing or smeared in a “content TK” sort of way, which means that, come september, there will still be new material for me.

because i already want more.

although allie brosh is infinitely more talented than i will ever be—what she’s able to convey with just posture in her cartoons is exquisite—there’s so much of that RELATABLE CONTENT the kids are always talking about. in fact, there were times i actually felt like she was speaking directly…to me

but even when she wasn’t breaking that fourth wall, i felt both a kinship with her and an urge to comfort her and tell her how seen and heard and appreciated she is.

i mean, i’m not a big enough liar to tell her that “everything’s gonna be all right” (or, even, as she promises her sardine-friend: it will be better very soon), but it is a fact that what she creates and puts out into the world is helping people she’ll never even meet, and i hope that there are artists or writers out there that inspire or comfort her in the same way.

because, as she says, no one should have to feel like a pointless little weirdo alone.

and she’s here for all of us, in her/our grief and loneliness, anxiety and self-scrutiny, in how we approach all of life’s difficulties, great and small.

i know it’s a stupid thing to say, and it usually makes me cringe when other people say it about confessional-creators, but i’m saying it anyway—this is a brave book. it’s hard to make yourself vulnerable, and i love her for doing it.

even in the book’s darkest moments, there’s a filament of humor running through it, which to me suggests a remarkable capacity for resilience, and i hope she never loses sight of that.

so much of this book made me laugh with joy—the dandelion story, the car stereo story, the story about the dog and the carrots, the resolution to the poop mystery, dear god, every word of the story about her childhood neighbor, richard—witnessing the very BIRTH of social awkwardness.

and this

i love these things. i love them in a way that defies all logic or proportion.

HELLO! I AM A BALLOON DO YOU WANT TO BUY A CAR? had me laughing so hard my stomach hurt, leaving me completely unprepared for the emotional evisceration of the fish video:

I LOVE YOU!

destroyed.

it is an emotional roller coaster, full of googly eyes, goofy syntax, and hard-earned wisdom:

If you can’t win, start playing a different game and score just as many points.

even especially if it’s just about humiliating some noisy-ass bird.

the wait is not long now!

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oh, honey.

review to come.

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pay no mind to my hi-gloss sheen. that’s just what happens from wearing a mask for nine hours in nyfc summerheat awfulness. and am also possibly sweaty with joy? anyway, off to drink a cocktail and read this book!

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you guys.

you guys.

confirmation that this exists and a copy is heading my way.

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i’m pretty sure it’s ILLEGAL to push the pub date back ANOTHER SIX MONTHS!!!

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