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fangslibris's review
3.0
Wish I liked this more. It feels like a long ramble with nothing concrete to say.
Also disappointed in the panel of Alison wearing a pussy power hat. I really respect her, and to see her involved in something largely transphobic like that makes me sad.
Also disappointed in the panel of Alison wearing a pussy power hat. I really respect her, and to see her involved in something largely transphobic like that makes me sad.
lisaw17's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
graveyardpansy's review
5.0
4.5 — in a way that only Bechdel can, this book combines themes of exercise, relationships, growing up, and... transcendentalism! it’s introspective and tied together really elegantly. i’ve seen some critique that it’s rambling and disconnected, but it works for me, and very much reads like other work by Bechdel. i’m not even interested in exercise as like. a topic. but i do love literature and philosophy and lesbians and memoirs, and this book delivered!
alicebme's review
5.0
This was really good. At first I was not so excited about reading a whole book about a lifetime of exercising, but it ended up being a pretty cool thread to follow. I am in my 40s, so I was especially tuned in once she got there. I have also had a frozen shoulder! I have had two in a row! As more time passes I hope that my frozen shoulders form such a small part of my body’s story too.
lbarsk's review
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this! The art is gorgeous, both color-wise and in the special ink drawings that close each chapter, and I love the moments in which Bechdel chooses to play around with layout. As memoirs go this one is pretty damn special. I enjoyed the thread of the Romantics and their attachment to the environment, and while I don’t super understand Buddhism by any means I appreciated that through-line as well.
I’m sad I can’t talk about this with QBC because I’d love to hear their opinions! Damn you Los Angeles lol I miss NYC. Anyway - good good read. Curious to see what Bechdel might do next, as it seems that many of her most personal and intimate life stories are already on paper. Maybe more fiction?
I’m sad I can’t talk about this with QBC because I’d love to hear their opinions! Damn you Los Angeles lol I miss NYC. Anyway - good good read. Curious to see what Bechdel might do next, as it seems that many of her most personal and intimate life stories are already on paper. Maybe more fiction?
katieinca's review
3.0
This book is both about exercise and the outdoors (American exercise fads, Bechdel's experience with them), and about a different kind of strength (enlightenment and self-transcendence, I guess?). How much you like it will depend on how happy you are with how Bechdel balances and interweaves the two. I've always found Bechdel's stuff personal and relatable, and I would have been perfectly happy reading about her wacky history of running and biking and karate and yoga and the rest. But I didn't always engage so well with the Kerouac and Wordsworth and Margaret Fuller and Buddhism thread. Especially Kerouac. If you're intrigued by how this second thread could possibly make sense with the first, this may be your jam.
erintowner's review
3.0
I enjoyed the journey this book took me on. It's more a memoir and less a treatise on exercise than its branding suggests. There's a big focus on reaching Nirvana which is not necessarily my thing. I did love the connections with other literary figures and their love of the outdoors and exercise. Lots of loving language towards running and many nods to Desolation Peak in WA that I climbed last year.