From toddler antics to doctor appointments, Keiler Roberts breathes humour and life into the fleeting present. Keiler Roberts affirms her status as one of the best autobiographical cartoonists working today with The Joy of Quitting, a work encompassing 8 years of hilarious moments in the author s life, mined from the universal. It spans her frantic child-rearing, misfires in the workplace, and frustrating experiences with the medical system. In one strip, the author and her daughter Xia have itchy scalps. Roberts asks her husband to check her hair and all she gets is the cursory remark that he just sees a bunch of bugs. In another, Xia describes her oddly shaped poop in precise detail. We then see Xia sitting at the breakfast table telling the family that she recently learned the word nuisance and everyone agrees it s a good word for her to know. As Xia grows from toddler to big kid, the family evolves and its dynamics shift in subtle ways, changes that pass all too suddenly in real life captured forever with Roberts s keen observational humour. The Joy of Quitting is Roberts magnum opus of domestic comedy, highlighting how she continues to work within and expand the rich tradition of autobiographical comics. Again and again, Roberts shows us that most meaningful moments or gestures often don t have any meaning at all.

About the Author
Keiler Roberts makes autobiographical comics. She is the recipient of the Slate Cartoonist Studio Prize for Chlorine Gardens and the Ignatz Award. Roberts is the author of Powdered Milk, Happy Happy Baby Baby, Miseryland, Rat Time, and Sunburning which was translated into Spanish as Isolada. Her most recent book, My Begging Chart, received nods from The Chicago Tribune, The Comics Journal, Chicago Review of Books, and more. She has taught comics at The School of The Art Institute in Chicago.

Reviews
I love the way Keiler Roberts use[s] diary comics to endow small, throwaway moments with the dignity and weight of larger ones. Liana Finck, The New York Times. Her work gives off a kind of radical stillness. It always lowers my blood pressure... Keiler Roberts is my new hero. Christopher Borrelli, The Chicago Tribune



Book Information
ISBN 9781770466227
Author Keiler Roberts
Format Paperback
Page Count 224
Imprint Drawn and Quarterly
Publisher Drawn and Quarterly