 Order Now! At last, the "Graphic Novelties" readers were teased with in Perfectly Revolting are all collected in one volume!
Nettie Olsen feels like a stranger in the Citadel of Reason, a place where logic rules over impulse, light over darkness, and all positive dualities dominate the negatives. Which would be all right except Nettie's upbringing has led her to believe that being born female means being born on the wrong side of the equation...and there's therefore something wrong with her. She leaves home and school in confusion, and is lost until she meets a new friend. Bear gives her a make-over on the outside (with a haircut) and the inside, by helping her think through her discouraging ideas by untangling the language of perception. When Nettie's brother Ricky arrives to visit on his way to join the Army, Nettie and her friends bring him into their intellectual world and challenge his beliefs about patriotism and war. Reid, a kung fu scholar and excellent cook, helps both siblings balance their attitudes, and helps Nettie both feel her own importance and open up to the possibility of equality-based love. Nettie's story symbolizes and illuminates the journey of thought taken by feminism and creation spirituality, reclaiming the human spirit from damaging burden of dualism. Conversation dominates the plot-line, with humorous art and writing illustrating this crash course in culture, pop-culture and post-modernism. The stories that surround The Reason She Left— the Atomic Comic, KiDo Comix, Lit-Crit Love in Po-Mo Times, My Life as a Cat, Not Another Fairy Tale, and Ego-Sum — and the essays that provide the eye a break between them — build a foundation for the larger opus, and give insight into the life of the mind from which they all came. Scribd (e-book)  |
The Reason She Left |
beware... |
"It's awesome, and so different from anything I've ever read!"
"I participated in the second wave of feminism, and sometimes when I look around me now, it's unclear whether the philosophical bases took hold. How refreshing to experience the growing-up story of another woman pondering similar questions from the perspective of a younger generation!"
"Kristen Caven brings the disciplined imagination of a thousand ballerinas and the incisive wit of a Gary Larson to her graphic essays on life, love, education, and the real meaning of everything. Hers is a decidedly woman's vision and voice - a woman who has come of age, with full awareness of how she got there."
"Brava, brava, Kristen Caven! You have given us a lot to think about, look back upon - and peer into the future for!"
— four ebullient comments by Libby Comeaux, writer, former judge Program Coordinator Center for Earth Jurisprudence
"It's great! It's very unusual. It was like reading a book and the funny papers at the same time."
—Dr. Richard Luibrand, Chemistry Professor Emeritus, CSUH
""The Reason She Left: and other stories" by Kristen Baumgardner Caven is unlike anything else you have ever read. Part graphic novel, part autobiography,part philosophical musing, the comics in this collection read much like a visual illustration of the reader's thought processes at one time or another - from the quest for self-discovery that fuels the title comic, to relatable illustrations of otherwise complicated philosophical theory and even fairytale princesses reimagined into fencing feminists, readers are both prompted to think about and able to easily relate to each illustration and speech bubble. A quick overview of the stories contained within:
"A Brief History of the Atomic Theory" begins with a cute caveman/dinosaur comic that evolves over a several pages into man wondering and musing about particles and the stuff that makes up the world around us in a manner that actually won't put you to sleep the way a research paper might.
"Ki-Do Comics" cover the basics of T'ai Chi and posture in the span of a few pages that would be helpful literature for anyone considering martial arts classes.
"Six True Stories (or, my life as a cat)" explore the human connection to furry friends with humor and stories that any animal lover will appreciate and likely relate to (how many of us as little girls spent entire days reading horse stories, after all?)
"In God's Country" explores the urge to (sometimes literally) write one's name on the world.
"The Reason She Left" is worth flipping to the middle of the book to read before anything else. The longest of the comics in this book, this story will pull you into one young woman's adventure of self-discovery with characters you want to become friends with and an illustration of why it's important to carve one's own path in the world.
"Not Exactly a Fairy Tale" is a re-imagined Cinderella story that this reader wants to see stretched across the entire genre of fairytale princess stories: princesses who practice kung fu and fencing and "went their own way."
"Ego Sum" is an interactive comic which does a surprisingly thorough job of explaining a big concept on one page and entirely without words.
"The Reason she left: and other stories" is an entertaining, informative, and thought provoking read that anyone will enjoy. Not only for feminists, philosophers, or animal lovers, this graphic novel provides a breathe of fresh air from the linear narrative usually found in the genre and will prompt your own thoughts and creative process in new ways."
—Katrina Gaines, poet and blogger
"The Reason She Left" is a funny, intelligent, wise and wholly original book. You'll never see anything quite like it. The author is equal parts author, artist and humorist, all combined with marvelous effect. She tackles some serious subject matter - for example, the limits of analytical reason in the pursuit of knowledge (this is the double meaning of the "Reason" she left behind) - but does it with such a light touch that it is great fun to read. How better to approach life journeys and philosophy than with cartooning and laugh-out-loud wit?
Current or former students of St. John's College - the "Great Books School" - will especially enjoy this book, with it's knowing references to the school and it's curriculum. But it goes beyond the school - well beyond. It's a true pleasure watching the main character wind her way through the world, learning, growing, always playful and a little wacky. The author has a open-minded, alternative way of seeing the world that is so refreshing. She avoids the cynicism of so many cartoonists, and instead embraces the best kind of humor - the kind that is hilarious but hurts nobody. The book is a suprise and a delight. Highly recommended!
—Jennifer Flynn, artist