Alavi Anan Meem

This seizes me by the neck and forces me to admit how terrifying it feels to be in love, how the fear grows with the love until it becomes an obsession as well.

It forces me to admit that love often becomes a cycle of hurting and being hurt and then makes me laugh at myself for not even wanting to end that cycle. "I wanted to hurt you but the victory is that I could not stomach it."

It makes me love being in love when I almost forget how to.

I think I'm a little in love with Roz Chast. I even looked up pictures of her so I would have a better mental image of her. There are pictures of her floating around with colourful parrots perched on her shoulder (she has three) and another of her wearing a pearl necklace and matching earrings. She has blonde hair that she tucks behind her ears. She wears glasses. She's 61. She doesn't like sitcoms. She's funny and her husband's funny too. I'm jealous of their kids (they have two). Why do I keep reading emotionally draining graphic novels at 3 in the night? I was laughing my heart out while it slowly broke - a funny feeling - while reading this. This is why I love graphic memoirs ([b:The Complete Maus 15195 The Complete Maus (Maus, #1-2) Art Spiegelman https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327354180s/15195.jpg 1658562], [b:The Complete Persepolis 991197 The Complete Persepolis (Persepolis, #1-4) Marjane Satrapi https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327876995s/991197.jpg 13344769], [b:Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened 17571564 Hyperbole and a Half Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened Allie Brosh https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1409522492s/17571564.jpg 24510592], [b:Blankets 25179 Blankets Craig Thompson https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1460925949s/25179.jpg 781193], [b:Epileptic 39916 Epileptic David B. https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386921331s/39916.jpg 1018527]), they are painfully real. It doesn't feel like they're partially fabricated/ghostwritten like autobiographies. (I am reminded of [b:Go Ask Alice 46799 Go Ask Alice Beatrice Sparks https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327870536s/46799.jpg 2115708] and [b:A Million Little Pieces 1241 A Million Little Pieces James Frey https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1401465768s/1241.jpg 3140930], the book that got its writer [a:James Frey 822 James Frey https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1207412020p2/822.jpg] kicked out of Oprah Winfrey's book club.) They are sincere, introspective and straightforward. I am starting to believe art is a more effective medium than words for communicating experiences when it comes to autobiographies. They feel more personal to me. For me, they convey a certain sense of intimacy. I always feel curious about the authors after. I looked up [a:Marjane Satrapi 6238 Marjane Satrapi https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1303646506p2/6238.jpg] and [a:Craig Thompson 14151 Craig Thompson https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1312311495p2/14151.jpg] just like Roz Chast here. They write with an emotional honesty that I can't get enough of.