I'D Scream Except I Look So Fabulous: A Cathy Collection

By now, we're all familiar with Cathy's battles among the four basic guilt groups-food, Mom, love, and career. Women can identify with Cathy Guisewite's hilarious portrayal of the universal struggles of modern femininity. A confirmed chocoholic, Cathy often consoles herself with one more trip to the fridge, then pays for it with frightening excursions in department store dressing rooms. Mom pushes Cathy to find the man who will give her grandchildren. As for her career, Cathy struggles to be a superstar, even though her desk looks like a disaster area. In fact, Cathy's all-too-recognizable life is what endears her to devoted readers. Her countless fans look on their cartoon heroine as a best friend, someone who really knows the trials and tribulations of the working single woman. From Internet dating to Christmas catalog fiascoes, from winter-flu one-upmanship at the office to kitchen technique discussions with Mom, Cathy puts her finger on the kinds of situations that women face in their real lives on a daily basis. In this Cathy collection, I'd Scream Except I Look So Fabulous, our favorite cartoon character once again shows why her popularity soars. Who can't relate to the discomfort fashion sometimes dictates in order to be trendy.

Customer Reviews:

Guisewite at her best

By A reader - March 2, 2005

I'm an avid Cathy fan and this is Guisewite at her best. She keeps to her trademark humor and perceptiveness while using very "everyday" situations. To those who complain that the cartoon plays upon stereotypical female concerns such as shopping and food, I counter that these themes make the humor relatable to many women, while providing a backdrop to the cartoonist's witty and incisive social commentary.

This particular collection plays upon an unexpected twist in the Cathy-Irving saga. After a lapse of three years, Irving turns up in a very unexpected way in Cathy's life - her professional life! - as a downsizing consultant. Guisewite very cleverly develops various angles of this theme, such as the often seen discrepancy between a person's competent "together" professional demeanor versus the more lackadaisical, sometimes inept, personal one. The irony is heightened for instance when Cathy's boss introduces Irving as being hired to do some housecleaning (as he... read more

Cathy Again!

By Valerie R Bowe - February 24, 2000

Another great Cathy book as Guisewaite deals with downsizing, home businesses, and of course, relationships; the conflicts and triumphs that are all part of being female in America! Cathy reassures us that we're not the only one who thinks there's something slightly ridiculous about being a new millennium kind of woman!