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A review by adoras
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel
adventurous
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Thank you to Netgalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the ARC!
This is my first Alison Bechdel book--I own Fun Home, but have never gotten around to reading it, although I loved the musical. It's a philosophical, self-reflective and self-depreciating look at Bechdel's relationship with her body, her health (mental, physical, and emotional), exercise, and the feeling of transcendence. These are huge topics, and she covers her entire life up to very recently (the last few pages talk about her struggling to finish the memoir during quarantine).
However, the book never feels overstuffed, or unfocused. Bechdel also connects her personal experience to history, following a few poets, philosophers, and writers that she felt some kind of personal connection to, as they also thought and talked about transcendence, nature, their own troubled relationships, etc. These writers include Emerson, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Margaret Fuller, and Jack Kerouac. Despite not particularly being fans of or knowing a lot about any of these people, I enjoyed all of these connections. I did find it funny that there was such a focus on Eastern philosophy, but many of the people talked about were white.
The book is broken up into sections that follow a decade, of Bechdel's life (the 1980s, when Bechdel was in her 20s, etc). It was fascinating to see reflections both of her personal history, and of where the world was at the moment. For example, the book would cover some of Bechdel's relationships and the writing of Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, but also discuss the development of running shoes and active wear over the years, or the connection between the AIDS crisis and a focus on a different physique for men—lack of body hair, and use of steroids used more widely after first being prescribed to HIV-positive men.
Even if you have no particular interest in exercise and books about it, this graphic memoir is about so much more. She is incredibly honest about her problems with suppressing her emotions, throwing herself into her work, refusing to rely on others, and pushing herself too hard to the point of injury or illness. I also enjoyed the art style, full of funny little details, and the soft pastels used for the coloring.
This is my first Alison Bechdel book--I own Fun Home, but have never gotten around to reading it, although I loved the musical. It's a philosophical, self-reflective and self-depreciating look at Bechdel's relationship with her body, her health (mental, physical, and emotional), exercise, and the feeling of transcendence. These are huge topics, and she covers her entire life up to very recently (the last few pages talk about her struggling to finish the memoir during quarantine).
However, the book never feels overstuffed, or unfocused. Bechdel also connects her personal experience to history, following a few poets, philosophers, and writers that she felt some kind of personal connection to, as they also thought and talked about transcendence, nature, their own troubled relationships, etc. These writers include Emerson, Coleridge, Wordsworth, Margaret Fuller, and Jack Kerouac. Despite not particularly being fans of or knowing a lot about any of these people, I enjoyed all of these connections. I did find it funny that there was such a focus on Eastern philosophy, but many of the people talked about were white.
The book is broken up into sections that follow a decade, of Bechdel's life (the 1980s, when Bechdel was in her 20s, etc). It was fascinating to see reflections both of her personal history, and of where the world was at the moment. For example, the book would cover some of Bechdel's relationships and the writing of Fun Home and Are You My Mother?, but also discuss the development of running shoes and active wear over the years, or the connection between the AIDS crisis and a focus on a different physique for men—lack of body hair, and use of steroids used more widely after first being prescribed to HIV-positive men.
Even if you have no particular interest in exercise and books about it, this graphic memoir is about so much more. She is incredibly honest about her problems with suppressing her emotions, throwing herself into her work, refusing to rely on others, and pushing herself too hard to the point of injury or illness. I also enjoyed the art style, full of funny little details, and the soft pastels used for the coloring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content