I’ve read Luke Healy’s new graphic novel twice: first, on screen last October (which was long before we asked him to be a judge of this year’s Faber/Observer graphic short story prize) and then in hardback a couple of weeks ago. The mark of a truly good book is that it’s even better second time around, and this one, for me, really was that. On the bus, my enjoyment was so patent – and so audible – the man next to me started trying to read over my shoulder, a fairly easy thing to do with a comic. If you’re that guy and you’re reading this, I do hope you bought your own copy later.
Self-Esteem and the End of the World (such an excellent title) may be described as autofiction. But the word “cartoon” is key here, because while regular autofiction is rarely funny – more often, it’s the polar opposite – Healy’s book is hilarious. Take the moment when Luke Healy, its neurotic central character, checks into a hotel. Asked by a receptionist whether the purpose of his stay is business or pleasure, he tells her: “I’m planning to read nine self-help books and synthesise their advice into an optimal plan for self-improvement.” To which she replies: “I’m going to put down ‘pleasure’.” (This was the line that had me guffawing on the bus.) The fact that the context for such jokes is a narrative involving grief, identity and the frightening climate crisis only makes them the more painfully funny. Every page sends up the terrible dissonance between our utter self-obsession and our anxiety (or not) at what’s happening out in the world before our very eyes.
