{"product_id":"my-perfect-life-9781770465657","title":"My Perfect Life","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eMaybonne and Marlys Mullen endure the mortifying highs and lows of middle school in this Lynda Barry classic.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCollected from the strip \u003ci\u003eErnie Pook's Comeek\u003c\/i\u003e, which was serialized in alternative weeklies across the continent, \u003ci\u003eMy Perfect Life\u003c\/i\u003e captures the moment when Lynda Barry finds the perfect balance in longer-form storytelling between the bellyaching laughs and the brutal reality checks. Along with the 2022 release \u003ci\u003eCome Over Come Over\u003c\/i\u003e, this collection continues to spotlight the life of teenager Maybonne Mullen. She suffers through the utterly relatable insults of junior high and the excruciating embarrassment caused by her little sister, Marlys. Hovering in the background, however, is a broken home, parents struggling with addiction, a grandmother who takes her granddaughters from the diverse big city to a bewilderingly bland small town. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eYet fitting into the new school and surroundings is, of course, paramount to a young teenager. Maybonne begins September full of life and excitement. As the school year progresses, she experiences bullying, her first boyfriend, family drama, drinking, and more. The book ends with Maybonne withdrawn and jaded as the reality of her world outweighs the magic.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBarry, Lynda:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLynda Barry\u003c\/b\u003e has worked as a painter, cartoonist, writer, illustrator, playwright, editor, commentator, and teacher and found that they are very much alike. She lives in Wisconsin, where she is a professor of Interdisciplinary Creativity at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBarry is the inimitable creator behind the seminal comic strip that was syndicated across North America in alternative weeklies for two decades, \u003ci\u003eErnie Pook's Comeek\u003c\/i\u003e, featuring the incomparable Marlys and Freddy. She is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Freddie Stories, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eOne! Hundred! Demons!\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe! Greatest! of! Marlys!\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eCruddy: An Illustrated Novel\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNaked Ladies! Naked Ladies! Naked Ladies!\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Good Times are Killing Me\u003c\/i\u003e, which was adapted as an off-Broadway play and won the Washington State Governor's Award. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eShe has written three bestselling and acclaimed creative how-to graphic novels for Drawn \u0026amp; Quarterly, \u003ci\u003eWhat It Is\u003c\/i\u003e which won the Eisner Award for Best Reality Based Graphic Novel and R.R. Donnelly Award for highest literary achievement by a Wisconsin author; \u003ci\u003ePicture This; \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eSyllabus: Notes From an Accidental Professor, \u003c\/i\u003eand In 2019 she received a MacArthur Genius Grant. Barry was born in Wisconsin in 1956.","brand":"Drawn \u0026 Quarterly","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50533823021330,"sku":"9781770465657","price":15.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dc5c3484-588b-4742-8862-804ce7e8ad74.jpg?v=1731413268","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/my-perfect-life-9781770465657","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}