Allie Brosh astounds me. Despite her strange little drawings, particularly a self-portrait that looks something like a marine tube worm, she reaches some profound truths in the course of her book. Part graphic novel, part autobiography, she manages to both amuse and discomfort the reader in the best of ways. Though she presents herself as a person struggling with severe depression issues in a number of the stories, she touches on human truths most of us experience.

Hyperbole and a Half originates from her wildly popular blog of the same name (link to her site). Satisfying on a laptop screen, I enjoyed the paper version even more. Made of heavy paper, each section has a different colored page background, making it look a little like a stack of heavy construction paper from the side. It’s a pleasing way to highlight a change in topics. Subjects range from childhood experiences to struggles with her dogs to self-identity and depression. “Dinosaur (the Goose story)” created laugh out loud moments with its great pictures. I confess, “The God of Cake” is one of my favorite stories, precisely because I can completely relate. I too have schemed obsessively to get cake, and that tell-tale smear of pink icing at the corner of the mouth–priceless.

For further thoughts--and samples of some of Brosh's great drawings because adding them to GR is just effing tedious, along with links to her work,
check my full review at
http://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2014/07/30/hyperbole-and-a-half-by-allie-brosh/ ( )

so. damn. good.

3rd time reading this since its release -- and it's still so excellent. and relatable. and sad. and funny. and sad. and perfect. ( )

I enjoyed the blog ‘Hyperbole and a Half’ and lo, I also greatly enjoyed the book. It was a very quick read, given that a lot of it is MS paint cartoons, and a very funny one. In general my favourite chapters concerned Brosh’s idiosyncratic pets, Simple Dog and Helper Dog. The absolute stand out chapter, though, concerned the invasion of the author’s house by a rogue goose. A great anecdote wonderfully told. On the other hand, her accounts of depression are darkly and sadly amusing as well as powerful and moving. The simple art style conveys surprising subtleties of emotion. The dogs’ expressive faces, meanwhile, are just plain hilarious. ( )

Bought this upon release because I LOVED the blog. And I loved the book. I still reread it sometimes. Funny AF and sometimes deeply relatable.
(Note: there's some outdated language). ( )

I enjoyed this very much. The pieces on depression were very relatable and ended on a hopeful note, and the other pieces were extremely funny, especially the one about the goose! The illustrations make the whole thing better, too. ( )