By Nick Galifianakis (Andrews McMeel)
ISBN: 978-0-7407-9947-1 (TPB/Digital edition)
Delivering biting wit, groundbreaking revelation or an excoriating assault with an unforgettable drawing and a few well-chosen words is one of the greatest gifts humans might possess. Even those stuck-up holdouts who pointedly claim to have “never read a comic” certainly enjoy strips or panels: a golden bounty of brief amusement demanding no commitment other than a moment’s close attention.
Truth be told, it’s probably in our genes and a bit like love, no?
According to the text preface by Carolyn Hax in this astoundingly funny collection, the cartoons gathered here by immensely gifted illustrator Nick Galifianakis were originally intended as little pictorial add-ons to accompany and supplement her nationally syndicated Advice Column (cited by Time magazine as America’s best…).
Apparently, Nick kept making them so funny that the pictures became an intrinsic and unmissable companion and in 2010 a whole bunch of the very best of them turned into this book.
Also included are an outrageous Foreword by his cousin Zach – yes, that movie comedian guy – sharing the kind of intimate incident insights and past humiliations only a close family member can; as well as a vast Acknowledgments section and insider information on the way Nick works in his Introduction. There are also concrete clues that his one true love is his dog ZuZu…
All that aside, what’s on offer here is a spellbinding examination of human relationships as seen from a natural raconteur’s perspective: devastatingly penetrating, sharp to the point of cruelty, warmly sympathetic, ultimately understanding and forgiving and, most importantly, laugh-out-loud, Horlicks-jetting-out-of-your-nose funny.
Or whatever your shared evening tipple of choice might be. I’m not saying that his gags make your body mysteriously manufacture Horlicks. That would be weird…
In this delicious monochrome paperback (or eBook, you choose: it’s an officially free albeit expensive world and you’re most likely some sort of consenting adult) you’ll see all the perilous wonders and tribulations of human relationships. Crucially, you will also find the search for love reduced to simple, forthright categories stuffed with beautifully rendered line drawings exemplifying the rights and wrongs of finding and keeping – or satisfactorily jettisoning – a partner.
It kicks off with the male perspective as seen through female eyes in ‘The Bastard Files’ before naturally offering an opposing viewpoint in ‘The Unfair Sex’…
The eternal hunt is deconstructed in ‘Finding the Ones(s)’ and expanded upon in ‘So This Was The One’ before learning how to negotiate deadly traps and bile-filled traumas of ‘The Bridal Industrial Complex’.
Weddings avoided or survived, everybody’s all reconciled to being one great big joyous clan, as proved here in the acerbically astute ‘Putting the Eff in Family’, but please remember, Love’s all about the children really, isn’t it? Thus a close-up-and-personal dissection of procreation in ‘Just Kidding’ which leads to the conclusion that some sons and daughters don’t ever grow up in ‘When We’re Five We’re All Artists…’
If confused or in trouble, the natural thing to do is depend on your closest comrades in the Battle of the Sexes, but ‘With Friends Like These’, clarity and understanding are early casualties. Still, if we’re being truly honest we can only trust our ‘Lusting Impressions’ before settling for ‘A Little Something on the Side’ to avoid getting ‘Ego-Tripped’.
At least our animal companions still offer us unconditional love… don’t they? Perhaps not, if the bestial examples in ‘Ark Types’ are to be believed and if you ‘Catch My Riff’…
When all’s said (sad?) and done then, perhaps it’s best to play safe and just try the ‘Flair of the Dog’ when looking for truly lasting love…
With recurring themes including Frogs and Princesses, malevolent Cupids, uncomprehending Adams and Eves, weary Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates and the absolutely crucial role of Lawyers and Counsellors in all relationship matters, this compendium of situational quandaries and unromantic entanglements is a superbly cathartic look at love and one every new home and generational estate should have in pride of place on the mantelpiece – near the heavy candlesticks, poker, poisons and matching tasers…
© 2010 by Nick Galifianakis. All rights reserved.