Miss Remarkable and Her Career

Rating:
Summary: Dranger hit the nail on the head!
Review: At first, when I saw this book and started flipping through it, I thought, "eh, it's a bunch of cartoons about work." But then I started to look more closely, and I realized that, far from being disjointed and unrelated cartoons, it was the story of a woman who was taught in early childhood that without success and achievements, she was nobody and that was the worst thing imaginable. It was the story of the stress and pressure she put on herself to be perfect, to excel and always be better and the resulting feelings of inadequacy and having disappointed others in her life that ultimately lead to her desperate attempts to "find herself." As someone who has been through this kind of "Why hasn't my life turned out the way it was supposed to be," kind of struggle, I found that Dranger's characterizations, depictions, and choice of words resonated deep within me- she captured every nuance of what it feels like to not know what to do with your life- to feel like a failure and to know that everyone in your life thinks you're a total loser. I loved this book and how much of "me" it described. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever had a time of uncertainty about the direction of their lives or careers.

Rating:
Summary: Dranger hit the nail on the head!
Review: At first, when I saw this book and started flipping through it, I thought, "eh, it's a bunch of cartoons about work." But then I started to look more closely, and I realized that, far from being disjointed and unrelated cartoons, it was the story of a woman who was taught in early childhood that without success and achievements, she was nobody and that was the worst thing imaginable. It was the story of the stress and pressure she put on herself to be perfect, to excel and always be better and the resulting feelings of inadequacy and having disappointed others in her life that ultimately lead to her desperate attempts to "find herself." As someone who has been through this kind of "Why hasn't my life turned out the way it was supposed to be," kind of struggle, I found that Dranger's characterizations, depictions, and choice of words resonated deep within me- she captured every nuance of what it feels like to not know what to do with your life- to feel like a failure and to know that everyone in your life thinks you're a total loser. I loved this book and how much of "me" it described. I highly recommend it to anyone who has ever had a time of uncertainty about the direction of their lives or careers.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the woman who thinks "normal" = failure
Review: Miss Remarkable questions everything except the implicit fact that she must be remarkable. Indeed, she must be confident, extra-special, successful, even perfect! The beautiful twist occurs when sink or swim philosophies fall flat, and when, though she tries her best to be perfect and swim like an Olympiad, she sinks anyway-- and survives. I adore this graphic novel. I'm astounded by how many messages I digest, daily, about what I could, should, must be. Miss Remarkable is also inundated with this stuff, believes it, is brought to the point of no return, but *does* return... as a normal person. Nothing, in the end, is lost-- except for several neuroses. Great stuff, artfully crafted, and sure to be a hit in the USA.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for the woman who thinks "normal" = failure
Review: Miss Remarkable questions everything except the implicit fact that she must be remarkable. Indeed, she must be confident, extra-special, successful, even perfect! The beautiful twist occurs when sink or swim philosophies fall flat, and when, though she tries her best to be perfect and swim like an Olympiad, she sinks anyway-- and survives. I adore this graphic novel. I'm astounded by how many messages I digest, daily, about what I could, should, must be. Miss Remarkable is also inundated with this stuff, believes it, is brought to the point of no return, but *does* return... as a normal person. Nothing, in the end, is lost-- except for several neuroses. Great stuff, artfully crafted, and sure to be a hit in the USA.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Horse
Review: Think of the heroine of the darkly comic, new graphic novel Miss Remarkable & Her Career as the anti-Bridget Jones. While Ms. Jones drowns her sorrows in pints of ice cream and pithy diary entries, Miss Remarkable struggles with the somewhat less chick-lit friendly topics of real depression, crushing parental expectations, and career meltdown. A runaway bestseller in Europe (where they like their humor black, hold the sugar) Miss Remarkable is sure to find a niche audience among cynics and optimists nationwide. Swedish author and illustrator Joanna Rubin Dranger's frank, witty text will hit a chord a minute with anyone who's ever had a moment of self-doubt, and her expressive, elastic visuals will make you feel like you're watching an animated film rather than reading.

Rating:
Summary: Dark Horse
Review: Think of the heroine of the darkly comic, new graphic novel Miss Remarkable & Her Career as the anti-Bridget Jones. While Ms. Jones drowns her sorrows in pints of ice cream and pithy diary entries, Miss Remarkable struggles with the somewhat less chick-lit friendly topics of real depression, crushing parental expectations, and career meltdown. A runaway bestseller in Europe (where they like their humor black, hold the sugar) Miss Remarkable is sure to find a niche audience among cynics and optimists nationwide. Swedish author and illustrator Joanna Rubin Dranger's frank, witty text will hit a chord a minute with anyone who's ever had a moment of self-doubt, and her expressive, elastic visuals will make you feel like you're watching an animated film rather than reading.