Roz Chast draws a comic about her parents getting old and dying. Sometimes her account is funny, sometimes it’s poignant; always it’s memorable, even though her parent’s life and death were ordinary in most respects.
Chast, who is a long-time cartoonist for the New Yorker, has a distinctive and recognizable style, a slightly neurotic but sweet vibe. Her genius is in using her sweet neurosis to make the ordinary resonate loudly, so that we pay attention to it. Everyone’s parents will die sooner or later, and it is never pretty, so the natural instinct is to ask, “Can’t we talk about something more pleasant?” You could skip the topic but you’ll miss out on something important and profound. This visual memoir is important and profound, and will make you smile often.
