Can't We Talk about Something More Pleasant? is the final graphic novel I've been putting off reading forever, and now I'm rushing to finish before my local library branch closes for a year of renovations. Detailing the journey towards death for Chast's parents, it's a complex, masterful work. The comic medium is at its best, here.

The sharp-eyed, prolific Sam Quixote has written such a wonderful review that there's not much I can add. The Chast family's story doesn't shy away from the sordid, messy details of dying, but it relates the trials with dignity and grace for its subjects. There's a wonderful sense of balance and realness to the work.

The most heartbreaking moment is not when the parents die. No, no, the moments that broke me were when reality resisted the Hollywood-enforced narrative of dying. There was no great reconciliation. There was little beauty. The painful process was drawn out, to the point that Chast bemoans that if her mother doesn't die soon, they will go bankrupt. It is so expensive to die in America, though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. The tension between Chast's "good daughter" ideal and the brutal, messy reality wasn't glossed over. We'd like to think that, when our parents need us, we will be able to take them in and lovingly nurse them with competence and comfort. But society, family dynamics, and relationships aren't necessarily built that way, which is why nursing homes exist.

Overall, I'm glad I read this book. I feel forewarned about things, and that means I can prepare for them. I could have no better guide than Roz Chast to do this learning.