Book info

• Title Hyperbole and a Half
• Author Allie Brosh
• Year 2013
• Genres Humour, Memoir

Hyperbole and A Half is a blog and webcomic written by a 20-something American girl called Allie Brosh. She tells fantastically funny, wise stories about the mishaps of her everyday life, with titles like 'Why Dogs Don't Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving' and 'The God of Cake'. Brosh's website receives millions of visitors a month and hundreds of thousands per day. Now her full-colour debut book chronicles the many 'learning experiences' Brosh has endured as a result of her own character flaws. It includes stories about her rambunctious childhood; the highs and mostly lows of owning a mentally challenged dog; and a moving and darkly comic account of her struggles with depression.

Thoughts

I used to read this blog religiously, and I’ve had the related book in my to-read pile for quite a while. It was so lovely to revisit the illustrations that I knew so well, but also to read the deeper stories behind them. Some of them were fun - the goose infiltrating the kitchen and taking over the house - but some of them were more serious - investigating what makes a person who they are, or dealing with depressions. Ultimately it’s a unique way of telling stories about your life, and I really enjoyed it.

Rating: 4 / 5