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.

Author: Keiler Roberts
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Drawn & Quarterly
Published: 10/25/2022
Pages: 264
Weight: 1.55lbs
Size: 8.20h x 6.70w x 1.40d
ISBN: 9781770466227


Review Citation(s):
Shelf Awareness 10/28/2022

About the Author

Keiler Roberts makes autobiographical comics. She is the recipient of the Cartoonist Studio Prize and the Ignatz Award. She has taught comics at The School of The Art Institute in Chicago.

Early in her career, Roberts self-published Powdered Milk, Happy Happy Baby Baby, and Miseryland. Koyama Press published Chlorine Gardens, Rat Time, and Sunburning which was translated into Spanish as Isolada. The Joy of Quitting is her second book for Drawn & Quarterly, following My Begging Chart which was translated into Spanish as Mi Tabla De Súplicas.