Very short graphic novel memoir. About a woman with a very large nose. Who didn’t notice it until the awkwardness of puberty set it- along with thoughtless kids at school who would insult her looks. She was pleased to make a friend in class who also had a large nose- felt they really had something in common- and upset when after a summer apart, she didn’t recognize her friend- who had gotten a nose job. It immediately made her question her own appearance: should she get one too? how would altering her face change how she felt about herself? would she be the same person. She waffled about it for years, pretending she liked her looks when she didn’t, and bristling at advertisements and other things that constantly remind women they should look differently. Then as an adult she met and fell in love with a plastic surgeon. She really resisted this attraction at first- appalled at the idea of someone earning a living from making others more beautiful- because that’s all she thought it was. Until she got to know him better and heard about what he actually did all day. Not just nose jobs and chin tucks. Removing skin cancer. Repairing someone’s injured hand. And making a kid’s ears not stick out so much- merely because his mother worried he’d be teased in school. That one felt more bothersome. However as they continued to let their relationship grow (through some charming- and bluntly honest- long-distance postcards that became a form of art exchange) the author gradually came to feel better about her appearance, come to terms with her boyfriend’s occupation, and embraced the uniqueness of everyone’s individual appearance, that we shouldn’t all fit the same mold and look the same. Differences are good! I liked this one, even though it took a while for the art to grow on me.
Borrowed from the public library. Completed on 5/1/24.
