Hyperbole and a Half

It was very funny. The stories were crazy, but the right amount of plausibility though. The ones on depression were surprisingly insightful. One could see that it must have taken personal experience to write about it in such a clear manner. My favorite chapters were the one about her dogs and the one where they get lost in the forest. I never laugh from books, so it is high praise from me when i say that I was chuckling at times, when I read this one.

Book 1 of 2018 done! Reread the Hyperbole and a Half book because it came across the check-in counter when I was working and part of the tagline was “flawed coping mechanisms”. And I went “Hey, I have those!!”. So I blew through it yesterday and today and just sent it on to the person who already had it on hold.

The parts about when she was a kid are hilarious, and the parts about her adult life are sort of funny but mostly forgettable. Worth it for the kid stories. Also, she has a section that talks about depression and suicidal thoughts that made sense to me in a way that no other description of suicidal feelings has ever done. It clicked, and I hope that I can be a better support because of it.

This book, like the incredible blog of the same name, is hysterically funny and also quite poignant. For anyone looking for a funny but also very accurate and easy-ish to understand description of depression, look no further than the two-part Depression chapters.

The writing is fast and funny, honest and pleasant to read. The art is crude but oddly charming, and it conveys a lot more in its simple lines than anyone would expect.

This book which made me laugh so many times I lost count. I either full on guffawed or chuckled; each “chapter” is a perfect bon mot on something that will make you feel all the feelings. Most of the scenarios I have felt or gone through myself. I too have a psychotic dog that wants to end the existence of all other dogs by doing a scream yodle thing.  So, this book is a weirdly relatable collection of great stories and I am not sure how comfortable I am with that. It all made me realize that I am in fact this weird. As for her actual writing, her wit is honest and open even when dealing with tough subjects such as depression. It doesn't come off as simplistic, but relatable and real. It really was such a pleasure to read. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Allie's blog got me through some dark times. I couldn't rate her book any less than 5 stars and love having a bound version of some of my favorite posts of hers. I've cried so many tears of laughter from while rereading “Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving” that I think my neighbors were probably concerned for me.

Most people can motivate themselves to do things simply by knowing that those things need to be done. But not me. For me, motivation is this horrible, scary game where I try to make myself do something while I actively avoid doing it. If I win, I have to do something I don't want to do. And if I lose, I'm one step closer to ruining my entire life. And I never know whether I'm going to win or lose until the last second.

I wish I had an Allie Brosh in my life. Her humor is my is my kind of humor. There were a few passages that I related so much with. I kept reading them out-loud to my boyfriend saying That's me, right? I do that! But even the chapters relating experiences not even remotely similar to mine were a lot of fun. And I loved the drawings. Those drawings are life! I wish the book was longer though.

I don't know exactly how I feel about this book, so I gave it an average rating because of my conflicting feelings. On the one hand, it was a very engaging read–especially with all the hilarious illustrations, and Allie Brosh's voice is witty and funny and casual, and honest. I just had a hard time relating to some of the stories. I am not sure if it was how she was writing it, or if it was the situation itself, but I was definitely forcing myself to just get through with some of the chapters. I don't know how to explain it, but I guess the tone was just off for me.

3 out of 5 stars

So Allie Brosh makes me very jealous.

I've followed the Hyperbole and a Half blog for a long time, and in that time I have become very jealous of her ability to make me start heaving with uncontrollable laugh-sobs about two paragraphs in to any of her childhood stories. So, I was very excited when she announced her book deal. My sister got me the book for Christmas (read: I received the book yesterday) and I pretty much dropped everything to read it. The story contains some of her best works from the blog including the trials of Simple Dog and Helper Dog as well as tons of brand new material. My only sadness was it does not include “How a Fish Almost Destroyed My Childhood.” Thankfully, that story is still available on the internet. If you aren't familiar with Brosh's work, you should probably read that one right here

The book recounts some of the family legends of her childhood, her battle with identity to which I think everyone can relate, and her struggle with depression which everyone who has been depressed or has someone in their life who is depressed ought to read. I really just can't recommend the book enough. Read it.

Pijnlijk herkenbare situaties, die eigenlijk niet om te lachen zijn. Honden die niet anders te omschrijven zijn dan zwaar mentaal gehandicapt. Psychoses en neuroses en traumata en misverstanden.

De helft van wat in dit boek staat, stond al eerder op Hyperbole and a Half, het weblog. De andere helft niet.

Ik vermoed dat een groot deel van de lezers van dit boek zich kapot lachen, en een ander deel helemaal niet.

Maar toch aangeraden, van ganser harte. Al was het om even te ervaren wat het is om depressief te zijn.

This book was hilarious! It isn't a memoir in a traditional sense, both because it's in graphic novel form and because it contains short stories of the author's life, ranging from childhood into her adult life and marriage. It contains laugh-out-loud stories about her dogs (Simple Dog and Helper Dog), getting lost in the wilderness as a child, and a wild animal attack.

Brosh also shares deep feelings about her battle with depression and her self-doubt. Several stories almost brought me to tears because they were so raw and honest. I saw a bit of myself in her and have gained a deeper respect for her ability to be so honest about what she sees as her flaws.

I'd highly recommend this book to anyone!

This book will inevitably be showered in five star ratings from readers of Brosh's blog, who will fill their reviews with the memes it generated. I don't feel it's earned all of those stars. But I think it's solid anyway.

For those unfamiliar with the author's work, Brosh writes the “Hyperbole and a Half” blog, which became famous quickly after she wrote a piece on depression that touched a nerve for a lot of people. That piece appears in this book, and I think the others were also featured on the blog, but I'm not sure about that as I'm only an occasional reader there. (The famous “Alot” piece is not present.)

You can think of this as something of an essay collection, but the prose is interspersed with Brosh's trademark drawings. For Kindle readers, I thought they were quite readable even on a tiny iPhone screen. Mostly they work well; once or twice they feel shoehorned in and don't really add anything.

The individual pieces range in theme from the heavy (depression, self-perception) to the light (a letter to her dogs). Topically, it's as scattered as the book's title, which I find is a common problem in humor books, especially those written by comedians with little writing experience. The piece on self-perfection, which closes out the book, was probably my favorite. Mostly it's a light read, but not always.

This probably won't change your life, but I enjoyed it. Definitely did laugh out loud more than once.