Spent: A Comic Novel

A cartoonist named Alison Bechdel is raising pygmy goats in Vermont while worrying about political collapse, climate change and her own place in a deeply unequal world. A television adaptation of her memoir has made her newly successful, bringing uncomfortable comparisons with the queer friends around her. Then her partner Holly's wood-chopping video goes viral, supplying another reason to feel both fortunate and dissatisfied. Alison imagines a new project that might expose her complicity in consumer culture, even as recognition remains difficult to resist. This comic novel uses a fictional version of its creator to explore ambition, ethical aspiration and the absurdities of trying to live well without escaping one's own ego.