The Joy of Quitting

By Keiler Roberts

Book Overview

From toddler antics to doctor appointments, Keiler Roberts breathes humour and life into the fleeting present

Keiler Roberts affirms her status as one of the best autobiographical cartoonists working today with The Joy of Quitting, a work encompassing 8 years of hilarious moments in the author's life, mined from the universal. It spans her frantic child-rearing, misfires in the workplace, and frustrating experiences with the medical system.

In one strip, the author and her daughter Xia have itchy scalps. Roberts asks her husband to check her hair and all she gets is the cursory remark that he just sees "a bunch of bugs." In another, Xia describes her oddly shaped poop in precise detail. We then see Xia sitting at the breakfast table telling the family that she recently learned the word "nuisance" and everyone agrees it's a good word for her to know. As Xia grows from toddler to big kid, the family evolves and its dynamics shift in subtle ways, changes that pass all too suddenly in real life captured forever with Roberts's keen observational humour.

The Joy of Quitting is Roberts' magnum opus of domestic comedy, highlighting how she continues to work within and expand the rich tradition of autobiographical comics. Again and again, Roberts shows us that most meaningful moments or gestures often don't have any meaning at all.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1770466223
• ISBN13: 9781770466227
• Release Date: October 2022
• Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.7" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 16 years and up

Customer Reviews

Tender, laugh-out-loud bits of life

The Joy of Quitting has all the silly, and sublime regular flow of life moments I wished I’d captured on paper of my life with kids, pets, partners…. My 8 year old daughter and I love graphic novels and I even read some of this with her. Lots of joy and realness in this book. Highly recommend