The Joy of Snacking: A Graphic Memoir About Food, Love & Family

In this candid but occasionally rambling gustatory memoir, comedian and New Yorker cartoonist Campbell (Murder Book) nibbles away at her food obsessions. A picky eater from an early age, Hilary survives as an adult on packaged snacks and childhood “safe foods” like buttered pasta. “I’m so bad at feeding myself I honestly think I’d be better off as a dog,” she confides to friends over cocktails and bar bites. Her relationship with a foodie sparks culinary arguments that seem cute at first—“A wine salesman who loves to cook meets a cartoonist whose ideal meal is popcorn and cheap wine?”—but sour over time. She flashes back through a fraught youth that includes periods of anorexia and bulimia, examines the eating habits of her parents and grandparents, and queries friends about their nostalgic memories of childhood snacks. Darker revelations are lightened with humorous asides, including “recipes” for Oreos and milk, a handful of peanuts, and sardines on saltines (a favorite of her father’s). Campbell’s wobbly, animated art, black and white with bursts of color, conveys the tremor of her anxieties. She hits on funny observations, but skips around in topics enough that it can be hard to keep up. The result is sometimes sweet, sometimes salty, yet not quite filling. Agent: Michelle Brower, Trellis Literary Management. (Oct.)