Adulthood is a Myth

Adulthood is a Myth: A Sarah’s Scribbles Collection
Sarah Andersen
Andrews McMeel Publishing
9781449474195
March 2016

Adulthood. It’s awesome right? All marinis and flirts on a sunset beach or on a high rise in NYC talking about how you’re going to take over the world and the next big business deal and how you’re going to meet up with the 3rd VP’s assistant of network of computers at HP in CT for NW (networking) tomorrow night for drinks and you should totes come! Right? Yeah…if that made sense to you, please put down this book and go find the business section. If on the other the hand you groaned out loud, keep reading.

Sarah Andersen is a young twentyish something cartoonist in New York (why do all of the best cartoonists seem to live there, I wonder) who captures the everyday life of just…being. Being alive. Being in your early twenties. That time period in life when everything is supposed to be roses and picnics and deer and everything according to some old farts that forgot that their early twenties sucked or just like torturing the rest of us…I’m not sure which. Either way Sarah captures the reality of what life is like. Of being afraid of going out shopping all alone because of pushy salespeople that want you to buy “OMG its just the best thing evar! It will soooo help you win that interview with that cute guy. Wink. wink.” Of dealing with people that say things like “Real girls don’t do x” (and of course the only way to deal with them is to remind them that they really do exist.)

Sarah is adept at capturing the life struggles that so many of us endure and understand with just a few simple words and a wee bit of humor to it, just to take the edge off of life. Her words will have you nodding along in agreement and exclaiming “So that’s how I deal with that type of person! Got it. Yep, yep, yep!” Or exclaiming “OMG that is so me! Is Sarah watching me?” and then looking out the window to see Sarah ducking out of site with a pad of paper and pencil. (No not really. If you see someone doing this it isn’t Sarah. Most likely. Probably.)

Here simple drawing style, much like that of Allie Brosh and Gemma Correll, makes it easy for anyone to slip into the shoes of the character, even if they’re male. I mean who can you not relate to a character navigating the street with their nose buried in a book and not having to look up once. Any bookworm gets this. Or the need to get home and put on PJ’s after a long day of work or class…or of just running an errand down the street. We all get it. PJ’s are the best thing ever. Seriously. It’s easy to put ourselves in the character’s shoes and know what it feels like to be in this position.

In short, Sarah captures the everyday life with aplomb and makes the everyday life a little bit less dreary and little bit more funny. And helps us all remember (and admit) that adulthood is indeed, a myth.