Dave Schaafsma's Reviews > Qualification: A Graphic Memoir in Twelve Steps

This book may heal me of my addictive need to read "healing" graphic memoirs for a good while. David Heatley writes a way, way over-long narcissistic study of his own narcissism through the potentially humorous lens of his own addiction to 12-step programs. Heatley grew up with his mother going to OA (Overeaters Anonymous) who forced her husband to go to DA (Debtors Anonymous); this book catalogues roughly forty years of son David’s experiencing AA programs in various versions. And a good share of the tale involves his emotionally torturing and neglecting his poor wife and kids for several years going to OA, DA, Sexual Addicts Anonymous meetings (where in typical Heatley--and Robert Crumb, who blurbs the book--fashion, he must tell you about every moment of lust and sexual fantasy he has ever had. He has NO censor with his memoir comics, none, like Crumb; he will tell you about anything, bar nothing, and expects us to praise him for his "honesty" and courage).

A "qualification" is a personal story sharing process of all AA-type organizations where you tell your story to heal, but Heatley hates almost everyone he meets at the meetings and gets angry at everyone all the time for not appreciating him or caring enough for him, including his poor wife and poor innocent neglected kids, and only goes to the meetings so he can make sure he gets the chance to "share" and sob and be cheered and hugged and validated for his narcissism. He takes more than 400 (!!!) pages to say he has finally quit AA and now appreciates his wife, who I would lend money to help her get a divorce at any time. I am serious!!! He writes an apology to his family, whose crazy lives he shares in cringe-worthy detail. He goes out of his way to apologize to his kids, whom he hopes will not read this for many years; when they do, I hope they do not forgive him, that is how upset I am about this book.

So this book is one long "qualification" story, haha, good for him, begging us to love him and forgive him for his narcissism!!! Ugh!! I wasted hours on this book, and I do not think he is healed, or whole, or in any other great place he claims he is now in, because he claimed that several times in the book and discovered he was wrong! Argh, enough time spent on this book!! Crumb says it is darkly funny but I don't think Heatley intends it to be. He wants us to weep in relief and gratitude to the gods at his having been healed from his addiction to addiction programs at the end and then cheer and hug him. And I see many do validate him here on Goodreads, and good for him; he can now justify yet another memoir. He can hate me as he hates so many of the people he hates in his book. Argh!!