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The Infinite Wait and Other Stories
by
Julia Wertz (Goodreads Author)
Published
2012
by Koyama Press
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I'd originally discovered Wertz through a copy of her book Drinking at the Movies, which I loved but felt like she'd been keeping us (the readers) at arm's length for the most part. I did not get that feeling in this book and I think that this is quite possibly the best book she's written so far.
The setting of this volume is Wertz's life up until the events of Fart Party volume 1, specifically centering on her being diagnosed with lupus and the subsequent discovery of comics soon after. The boo...more
The setting of this volume is Wertz's life up until the events of Fart Party volume 1, specifically centering on her being diagnosed with lupus and the subsequent discovery of comics soon after. The boo...more
I've been reading Julia Wertz's material both online and off for years, including all of her books. Without sounding too mushy, it's been a treat watching her grow into the artist and storyteller she has become, and this book feels like a magnum opus. Her drawing style has improved by leaps and bounds, and the amount of detail she manages to cram into each panel and illustration is astounding. Her stories are richer, more honest, and introspective. I'd always wanted to read more about her issues...more
In the movie world, this would be considered experimental: Artist creates a full-length story about the time she moved from San Francisco to Brooklyn, drank a bunch of her meals, hung with fellow cartoonists or sacked out with a bottle of wine and DVDs of “The Gilmore Girls,” got canned from a bunch of jobs, struggled with guilt over her brother’s drug addiction, and then gets the A-OK to be a full time cartoonist. Then, the experimental part, a few years later she revisits a lot of the same ter...more
There's a lot in common here between Wertz and Keith Knight, the guy who does the K Chronicles, but where K does comics, Wertz does stories.
I think what I like about this is that it's the story of an ordinary life. The books you read when you were growing up, moving into a new place, finding out what you don't and don't like... little bits and pieces that are all immediately knowable by everyone.
And then she gets lupus, and it just gets sad. And she goes out on dates with people who take her to...more
I think what I like about this is that it's the story of an ordinary life. The books you read when you were growing up, moving into a new place, finding out what you don't and don't like... little bits and pieces that are all immediately knowable by everyone.
And then she gets lupus, and it just gets sad. And she goes out on dates with people who take her to...more
This is one of those books that is incredibly satisfying for reasons I can't quite put my finger on. Yes, Julia Wertz has a darkly funny worldview and simple but well-observed drawings, and as a newly diagnosed youngish-but-sick person I was drawn to the title story, about her struggle with lupus. She doesn't have anything incredibly profound to say about the latter, but that's part of the point; being sick just sucks, even though it apparently (thankfully) doesn't seem to turn you into an alien...more
I laughed, I cried, I laughed again. I love Julia with all my heart.
In what is thematically her most serious book yet, my comic crush on Julia Wertz continues. Broken into three separate parts the, these stories are much more comprehensive and flushed out, compared to her traditional one pagers. Though the overall themes are a bit more serious, this is still plenty of Wertz classic rye wit. As well, for long time readers of Julia's work, the references to her past work (Fart Party Vol I, & II, Drinking at the Movies) make you feel like your in on an inside j...more
I've been a fan of Julia's since the early Fart Party Days (now Museum of Mistakes). This time around the cranky little elf has taken on three topics that almost everybody can relate to - crap jobs, an intense and consuming love of library books, and dealing with really bad news - in this case, her diagnosis of lupus discussed in some of her earlier books. I'd say that Julia's writing makes her sound like that hilarious, crabby friend you want to hang out with in a sleazy bar with nothing but ha...more
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Surprise! A more mature Julia Wertz is not a bad thing. The jokes per panel ratio is a bit lower in this collection of graphic novellas than in her previous work, particularly in the title piece, but the screwball gags are still there, leavening a deeper look at this interesting young woman's life.
Her drawing is more densely packed with detail, but retains the lightness of line that makes her scribbled stick-figure comics so much fun.
I'm not going to get into the plot; the other reviews have mor...more
Her drawing is more densely packed with detail, but retains the lightness of line that makes her scribbled stick-figure comics so much fun.
I'm not going to get into the plot; the other reviews have mor...more
Julia Wertz is one the alt-comics scene's latest success stories and not unlike Lynda Barry, it seemed to happen for her sort of by accident. I've only read one of her previous books before, Drinking at The Movies, which was published by a mainstream outfit, Three Rivers Press. I really enjoyed it and found Wertz's persona, that of a profane, no-bullshit, tough-but-tender-deep-down-on-the-inside type, very refreshing and often hilarious. This new book is still highly entertaining and laugh out l...more
I really loved this and Julia Wertz is very funny. I was touched by her sense that a chronic illness wasn't interesting to major publishers, since I too have a chronic illness which isn't very dramatic or interesting to others. She is so acerbic and misanthropic, and yet people seem to like her none the less. There were a few faults - after a while I began to question whether she was always so funny and long-winded every time she opened her mouth - didnt' she ever say ordinary things? Also the s...more
the infinite wait:
ok so i re-wrote this a billion times and it still sounded dumb. what i wanna say is: if you love her work (and i do, absolutely adore it), meaning fart party 1+2, and drinking at the movies, as well as her unpublished stuff, you'll like this one just the same. it's still julia, a little older, maybe a little wiser, but definitely more grown up. in a positive sense. i can't wait to see where she's headed next. but wherever it is, i know it's gonna be ... TURKEY!!!! ;)
keep it up...more
ok so i re-wrote this a billion times and it still sounded dumb. what i wanna say is: if you love her work (and i do, absolutely adore it), meaning fart party 1+2, and drinking at the movies, as well as her unpublished stuff, you'll like this one just the same. it's still julia, a little older, maybe a little wiser, but definitely more grown up. in a positive sense. i can't wait to see where she's headed next. but wherever it is, i know it's gonna be ... TURKEY!!!! ;)
keep it up...more
Can't get enough of Julia Wertz's comics! Every time I get one of her books I finish it in pretty close to one sitting. I especially liked this one because it deals, in part, with her struggle with systemic lupus. There are very few memoirs by people with lupus, and the ones that are out there are either dated, penned by people who are middle-aged or older, or both. I really connected with her descriptions/depictions of being a young person with a serious chronic disease, and wish that there wer...more
I bought this at her reading at Desert Island (one of the more glorious things about having transplanted to New York). I loved her last book "Drinking At The Movies" which was about her moving from the west to east coast and I give no small amount of credit to my reading of that book in solidifying my decision to make the move out here. So Julia is important to me in the way writers end up inadvertently being in strangers' lives. It was sort of a moment of great clarity and satisfaction when I...more
The Infinite Wait was the second follow-up graphic memoir by a female cartoonist I read in the last few months. I won't mention the other one by name, but it got a lot of press and critical acclaim. It wasn't a terrible read, but it was a bit of a slog.
Wertz's book, on the other hand, manages to be both poignant and pretty damn funny. I have two prerequisites for friends: they have to make me think and they have to make me laugh. This book is now my friend.
Wertz's book, on the other hand, manages to be both poignant and pretty damn funny. I have two prerequisites for friends: they have to make me think and they have to make me laugh. This book is now my friend.
I really enjoyed this book - as in Drinking at the Movies, Wertz has a fantastic ear for dialogue, and can take everyday, mundane conversations and make them interesting. My book had a couple of problems; there was one page (93) that was printed twice, and there were quite a few lettering typos as well - which I thought was odd, since the book seems to be hand-lettered. Other than those (tiny) issues, the book is great.
This book compliments Wertz's other works well- fills in the gaps in between her other books and yet I do think it would work as a stand alone novel.
I also really admire the fact that she went completely independent on her publishing here. She also seems to really be growing into her voice, and while there are still the darling dirty jokes, she seems even more committed to sharing personal stories about her life.
I also really admire the fact that she went completely independent on her publishing here. She also seems to really be growing into her voice, and while there are still the darling dirty jokes, she seems even more committed to sharing personal stories about her life.
a collection of three short stories from wertz: all the jobs she has ever worked, her systemic lupus diagnosis (josh: "i'm gonna call it 'poopus') and a love story about her childhood library. all of them fantastically illustrated & hilarious.
of note: some of these fart jokes i'd already read on her website, and i still laughed my ass off reading them the second time.
of note: some of these fart jokes i'd already read on her website, and i still laughed my ass off reading them the second time.
Julia Wertz manages to tightrope the line between misanthrope and adorable, which makes all her life adventures (highs and lows) extremely funny to be privy to. I know she doesn't think she's the greatest artist out there, but I love her clean, calculated, detailed style.
Already a fan of Wertz's work I was thrilled to get the new book which through the several
themes of the stories/ chapters she weaves humor, humanity & heart. It closes with a love letter of sorts to libraries that honestly made me tear up
themes of the stories/ chapters she weaves humor, humanity & heart. It closes with a love letter of sorts to libraries that honestly made me tear up
Julia Wertz is a tortured soul like the rest of us. She has endearingly exasperating parents like everyone else and struggled with some sort of substance dependency at some point like you and me. But, she has a cutting cartooning sensibility few have THE COURAGE to seek and realize. Combined with her recovering-polyanna view of life, this crazy broad will tear you a new one if you so much as insinuate she can't eat cheese anymore. Word.
Fun book, with just enough introspection and reflection to keep things interesting. My copy had some pagination issues (one duplicate, one page out of place).
To say that she keeps it real is an absurd understatement. Enjoyed this more than her other work, Drinking at the Movies
The library story is my favorite, of course. But generally speaking, I love reading Julia Wertz's stories.
So funny that if I peed myself every time I laughed I'd be sitting in a bathtub full of urine.
Wertz's blunt, candid humor is always a welcome read.
I've got a comic book crush on this little turd.
A terrible book full of loathsome characters.
i am very inspired by julia's work.
This is definitely her best one yet!
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Julia was born in 1982 in the San Francisco Bay area. She's the author of the unfortunately titled autobio graphic novels the Fart Party Vol 1 & 2 (Atomic Books 2007/2009) and Eisner nominated/lost Drinking at the Movies (Random House 2010) and The Infinite Wait and Other Stories (Koyama Press 2012). She lives in Brooklyn, New York.
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