Archives
Perfect to Each Other: On ‘How to Be Happy’ and My First Season of FBC
Posted on February 14, 2016 Leave a Comment
By Dan Bjork How to Be Happy (proper) is preceded by an author’s note that instantly endeared me to the book: “This is not actually a book about how to be happy, however, and if you’re struggling, the following have been helpful for me.” After which, Eleanor Davis lists three books that can be a […]
The Final Confession of Ryan Joe
Posted on February 10, 2016 Leave a Comment
By Ryan Joe 1. I have a confession. I have been watching NFL football since the playoffs. That, as well as other writing projects, have kept me from updating with any degree of regularity. If you weren’t watching, the playoffs were immensely entertaining, filled with on-field heroism (Larry Fitzgerald, Aaron Rodgers), villainy (Vontaze Burfect, Adam […]
Coming Home Again: On Books, Travel, Life, More Books, and the Green Bay Packers
Posted on November 13, 2015 Leave a Comment
By Rob Casper I feel like I need to write my fellow FBC folk an apology note. I did not mean to be absent; in fact, over the course of the first few weeks I realized how invaluable reading you and writing to you could be. But then my life overwhelmed me: five trips in […]
The Shame in Thinking You’re Simply Soft: On the Paradox of Other People in ‘Hyperbole and a Half’
Posted on October 18, 2015 2 Comments
By Dan Bjork This week was tough for me. My S.O.P. for these entries — extremely close readings and (attempts at) abstract subtext analysis — wasn’t really an option. Everything in Hyperbole and a Half is presented with a single-entendre straightness I admire. I’m truly digging its blog-roots (the word blog being used without any […]
One of Us: On ‘Hyperbole and a Half’ and Chicago Bears Mediocrity
Posted on October 18, 2015 3 Comments
By Adam Boretz 1. I think Yona’s piece from earlier this week hit upon two key aspects of Hyperbole and a Half. In that post, she wrote: [Allie] Brosh, unlike any writer I’ve read in a long time, doesn’t seem particularly concerned with extracting any deep meaning from her childhood to reveal the meaning of present […]
Funny as Hell: On Hyperbole and a Half
Posted on October 17, 2015 Leave a Comment
By Ryan Joe I was thrilled to read Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half because finally, finally, I found out where all those memes are coming from. Though I go through a lot of comics, I rarely do so online. It’s hard for me to read for pleasure through a screen. Of course, I use […]
Book Extras: ‘The Argonauts’
Posted on October 15, 2015 Leave a Comment
As we all spend the week reading Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, here are some great reviews and pieces about the book from The New York Times, Guardian, and Bookforum. And be sure to check back later this week for FBC’s take on Hyperbole and a Half — and next week, when we’ll be talking about […]
My Life in Ruins and Whacky Childhoods: The Highlights Reel
Posted on October 13, 2015 3 Comments
By Yona Harvey 1. Cartoonist Allie Brosh and novelist Steven Millhauser immerse readers in the warped worlds of children. But after that, Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half and Millhauser’s Edwin Millhouse part ways. At no point does Brosh declare herself a precocious genius or claim to tell a genius tale. Quite the opposite: “I was […]
Book 6: Maggie Nelson’s ‘The Argonauts’
Posted on October 12, 2015 Leave a Comment
This week, Football Book Club will be reading Maggie Nelson’s The Argonauts, discussing Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half, still not watching the NFL, and certainly not talking — or even thinking — about the Bears’ two-game win streak. The Argonauts — which has been dubbed a genre-bending memoir, a work of authotheory, and autobiographical criticism […]
Book Extras: ‘Hyperbole and a Half’
Posted on October 7, 2015 Leave a Comment
If you just can’t get enough of Allie Brosh’s Hyperbole and a Half, check out these video interviews with Brosh from The New York Times, Amazon, Google, and AVideoMagazine. And be sure to check back later this week for FBC’s reactions to Edwin Mullhouse — and next week, when we’ll be sounding off on Hyperbole and […]
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