Description

In the tradition of the acclaimed graphic memoirs Fun Home and Persepolis comes a funny, insightful, and deeply moving book about learning to appreciate what we have when we can't seem to get what we want.

For Phoebe Potts, the path to maternal fulfillment has not been easy. All her friends seem to get pregnant, but she can't conceive for all her trying. As Phoebe and her husband, Jeff, navigate the emotionally and physically fraught world of fertility experts, she takes stock of what matters in the rest of her life and reflects on the winding journey to her true calling as an artist. From her days as an amateur union organizer in Texas to her spiral into paralyzing depression in Mexico; from her soul-shrinking, all-for-the-benefits stint as an administrative assistant at a fancy university in Cambridge to her flirtation with rabbinical school, Phoebe illuminates the bumpy road to vocational and personal contentment. Her wonderful, hilarious, and utterly original drawings capture the truly good eggs—an unforgettably nutty mother; a devoted husband; a team of therapists, hairdressers, and landladies; friends; and a sidekick housecat—that together expand the definition of what really makes a family.

About the author(s)

Phoebe Potts grew up in Brooklyn and then on Martha's Vineyard. A graduate of Smith College, she received her MFA from the Maine College of Art in Portland. She lives with her husband, the artist Jeffrey Marshall, in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Reviews

“Potts tackles [this] sensitive subject with honesty and humor.” — Boston Globe

“Potts’ cute, cartoon-like drawings tell the story of her quest to conceive a baby. You’ll giggle, you’ll cry, you’ll fall in love with the kooky-but-endearing characters.” — Marie Claire

“Very funny, very sad, very wise." — Anita Diamant, author of The Red Tent

Good Eggs is mostly funny and sometimes sad, but always honest, intelligent, and completely involving.” — Roz Chast

“Phoebe Potts has created a book that is soulful without being sappy, funny without being phony, and smart without being smart-ass.” — Paul Karasik, Eisner Award-winning cartoonist

“So honest, so funny, so smart. Good Eggs is full of great lines, both written and drawn.” — Hilary Price, creator of Rhymes with Orange

Good Eggs provides a more-than-welcome respite for individuals and couples struggling with infertility. Phoebe Potts has accomplished what I have been waiting for, for a long time—an honest, bittersweet, and wonderfully humorous look at the emotional impact of the infertility process.” — Alice D. Domar, Ph.D, author of Conquering Infertility

“Funny! Laugh out loud! Like so many women, Phoebe Potts is having a hard time getting pregnant. But her take on it is so original, clever, and insightful that it will bring a knowing smile to anyone who’s been there—and even those who haven’t.” — Mary Jordan, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist for The Washington Post

“Nearly impossible to put down . . . . Fantastic. . . . Overwhelmingly likeable on the page, Potts tells the story of her and her husband’s frustrated efforts to have a child with equal parts comedy and pure narrative skill.” — Publishers Weekly

Good Eggs is at times hilarious, at times poignant, and always successful at conveying the many layers of coping with infertility, from how to handle friends’ pregnancies and what to share with families to how to manage depression and maintain a healthy marriage.” — Tablet

“Potts’ memoir recounts her efforts to become pregnant but encompases much beyond exploring her desire for motherhood. . . . Potts delievers a highly developed revelation of the layers, beyond coping with being a parent or not, that make up her identity. — Booklist

“Serious, observant, heartfelt, and hilarious. . . . Good Eggs will have special appeal for couples undergoing fertility treatments, but in 288 pages of black-and-white comic strip images, Potts takes on far more.” — Northshore Magazine

“Simply put Good Eggs is a good read. . . . [Potts] is an engaging storyteller.” — Vineyard Gazette

“[An] often hilarious, sometimes tender story. . . . [with] lively drawings and spot-on humor . . . The drawings add layers of wit and insight to Potts’ life and its tangents.” — Gloucester Times

“Like other talented women comickers who came before her . . . Potts tells her story with equal parts humor and sadness. . . . Rarely flinching and always frank, first-time graphic memoirist Potts successfully brings us into her world . . . without missing a beat. Highly recommended.” — Library Journal (starred review)

More Comics & Graphic novels