Review - Hyperbole and a Half by Allie Brosh

This is a book I wrote. Because I wrote it, I had to figure out what to put on the back cover to explain what it is. I tried to write a long, third-person summary that would imply how great the book is and also sound vaguely authoritative--like maybe someone who isn’t me wrote it--but I soon discovered that I’m not sneaky enough to pull it off convincingly. So I decided to just make a list of things that are in the book:

Pictures
Words
Stories about things that happened to me
Stories about things that happened to other people because of me
Eight billion dollars*
Stories about dogs
The secret to eternal happiness*

*These are lies. Perhaps I have underestimated my sneakiness!

I found Allie Brosh's blog, Hyperbole and a Half (book link HERE), over a year ago after she'd not written for quite some time. I went back through and read everything I could, though, because along with her funny drawings she writes incredibly well. I know some would look at her writing and compare it to a classic novel and disagree with me, but I've found I'm drawn to the books where I can imagine that's actually how the person speaks in real life.

She's also incredibly funny.

I loved the story of how she found Helper Dog and literally laughed until I cried looking at the illustrations of the first meeting between Helper Dog and Simple Dog. And the fact that she added actual screen shots at the end of her story with the goose just made the story itself that much more hilariously amazing.

I honestly don't know if there's been another book that's made me laugh that hard.

I finished the entire thing in one night which, considering it's made up mostly of simply (but creatively) drawn comics, wasn't hard. I needed to read it, too. I needed a pick me up. I'd been walking through the book store and I was kind of down that day, can't quite remember why, and as I was leaving I saw that book on the table in the center aisle. I grabbed it and walked right to the register with it. One of the best decisions I made that week.

There's really not much I can say in the way of a review. These are someone's personal life experiences, and how can you critique that? I enjoyed the way she told of her experiences. And I appreciate the fact that she could make me laugh. Also, that I could relate to her in some of her stories. Sometimes that's all I'm really looking for.

I'd recommend this for anyone looking for a funny story teller. There is some bad language so no one too young, but other than that, I don't think there'd be any reason you wouldn't love this book. Maybe it'll brighten your day the way it did mine.