Early Review – What I Hate: From A to Z by Roz Chast (4/5 stars)

I picked an advanced reading copy of this book up at Book Expo America.  It just looked like too much fun to pass up.  It’s a fun book, aimed more at adults than kids.  Kids can read it but some of the stuff will go right over their heads.

After an introduction explaining Chast’s struggles with anxiety, you delve into an alphabet of things Chast hates.  Each letter gets a page describing something Chast hates (for B it is Balloons) and on the facing page there is a funny cartoon depicting or expanding on the fear/hate.

This book is cleverly done, entertaining and funny.  People who are a bit anxious about things will definitely relate, people who’ve never been anxious a day in their lives will still laugh at the crazy hates Chast comes up with.  The cartoons are clever and the dialogue sparse (just enough there to add some humor and clarify things).

This is a very quick read, more like a children’s picture book than anything else.  It is aimed more at adults though.  There are references to some older things that kids just won’t get.  There is also a lot that just goes right over a kid’s head.

Overall a fun and quick read.  The illustrations are great and the book is cleverly put together.  I recommend it to people who have anxiety problems, or just people who like to read humor.  A fun book and I am glad I gave it a read.

This book goes towards the following reading challenges:

– 100+ Reading Challenge