Literally Me

by Julie Houts

LIVE. LAUGH. LOVE. or
EXIST. SMURK. LURK

Julie Houts has cultivated a devoted following as 'Instagram's favourite illustrator' (Vogue) by lampooning the conflicting messages and images women consume and share with the world every day.
A collection of darkly comic illustrated essays, Literally Me chronicles the daily exploits of 'slightly antisocial heroines' (Refinery29) in vivid, excruciatingly funny detail, including: The beauty routine of a deranged bride who aspires to be 'truly without flaws' on her wedding dayWhat happens when Kylie Jenner has an existential crisis and can no longer 'step out'A journey to Coachella by the Four Horsewomen of the ApocalypseThe true dating confessions of a fembotThe terrifying description for Alice Staunch's book How to be the Perfect Feminist Literally Me marks the launch of a brilliant new social satirist. Julie's singular voice and beautiful illustrations reveal the truth about the absurdity of life in the social media age: the line between becoming a total 'Girlboss' and a 21st-century American Psycho is razor-thin.

• ISBN10: 150116953X
• ISBN13: 9781501169533
• Publish Date: 24 October 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Touchstone Books
• Format: eBook
• Language: English

Reviews

[annieb123]

Original review posted at Nonstop Reader blog.

This is a collection of essays and illustrations and not-easily categorized oddities from Touchstone and author Julie Houts. They range from single page one-frame sight gag comics, to very bizarre, almost absurdist fables. There are also a number of puns and clever wordplay. Some of the entries are darkly humorous (Four Horsewomen of the Apocalypse) and some are just sad with a little drizzle of sarcastic humor (Fiddle). I enjoyed quite a lot of this book, though I am in no way the target audience (fashion savvy young professional women).

The art is original and technically solid. There is a lot of technical expertise 'hidden' in the relatively simple drawings. I really enjoyed the odd little rat cartoons which serve as a kind of Greek chorus to the narrative.

It's not all that often that an artist is a capable wordsmith. Julie Houts is surprisingly competent at both tasks.

I did enjoy this book and can recommend it to anyone who enjoys and appreciates sarcasm aimed at modern life, including ridiculous health trends, high fashion, conspicuous consumption, entitlement and shallow/ridiculous people.

It's relatively short, 220 pages, and release date is 24 October, 2017.

Three stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher