Commute : : an Illustrated Memoir of Female Shame

Locations
Call Number: Adult Graphic Novel / Williams, Erin, Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / Biography / Williams, Erin
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 1st Floor 4-week checkout	Adult Graphic Novel / Williams, Erin	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Malletts Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / Biography / Williams, Erin	4-week checkout	On Shelf
Pittsfield Adult Books 4-week checkout	Adult Book / Comics & Graphic Novels / Nonfiction / Biography / Williams, Erin	4-week checkout	On Shelf

"In Commute, we follow author and illustrator Erin Williams on her daily commute to and from work, punctuated by recollections of sexual encounters as well as memories of her battle with alcoholism, addiction, and recovery. As she moves through the world navigating banal, familiar, and sometimes uncomfortable interactions with the familiar-faced strangers she sees daily, Williams weaves together a riveting collection of flashbacks. Her recollections highlight the indefinable moments when lines are crossed and a woman must ask herself if the only way to avoid being objectified is to simply cease to draw any attention to her physical being. She delves into the gray space that lives between consent and assault and tenderly explores the complexity of the shame, guilt, vulnerability, and responsibility attached to both" -- Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Booklist Review
Publishers Weekly Review
Summary / Annotation
Fiction Profile
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

You be you, but this belongs with a therapist, not a publisher submitted by Susan4Pax -prev. sueij- on June 12, 2022, 12:34pm 3/5 stars. I’m all for telling whatever story you want to tell. Go for it; you be you. For about 3 pages that come maybe 8 pages before the end of the book, all the graphic trauma described through the first 200 comes full circle and there’s a sense of healing and wholeness.

I’m not entirely convinced that the whole of this story belongs in a book, and at the very least I’m certain that it wasn’t the right book for me. To me, because of degree and content this is stuff for a therapist, not stuff for a publisher. YMMV.

This graphic novel is the author’s telling of bad choices and the really bad things that happened because of those choices, and ultimately a reveal of how the choices came from trauma in the first place (so how trauma begets trauma). But I thought that there was an awful lot of generalizing about men and women (like, ALL men and ALL women), and some pretty damn judgmental side notes here and there (e.g. “trying for a baby… ewww”).

I will say that using the medium of a graphic novel for this particular story was very effective. The combination of words and images did a lot to convey nuance.

Not my thing, and holy hell **trigger warnings** for alcohol use and sexual violence, plus maybe body dysmorphia and C-sections.