Menopause: A Comic Treatment MK Czerwiec (Adjunct Professor, Creative Writing / Artist-in-Residence, Columbia College Chicago / Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine) 9781637790106

Hot flashes. Vaginal atrophy. Social stigma. The comics in this unapologetic anthology prove that when it comes to menopause and its attendant symptoms, no one needs to sweat it alone.

Featuring works by comics luminaries such as Lynda Barry, Joyce Farmer, Ellen Forney, and Carol Tyler, Menopause is the perfect antidote to the simplistic, cheap-joke approach that treats menopause as a cultural taboo. This anthology challenges stereotypes with perspectives from a range of life experiences, ages, gender identities, ethnicities, and health conditions.

Other contributors include Maureen Burdock, Jennifer Camper, KC Councilor, MK Czerwiec, Leslie Ewing, Ann M. Fox, Keet Geniza, Roberta Gregory, Teva Harrison, Rachael House, Leah Jones, Monica Lalanda, Cathy Leamy, Ajuan Mance, Jessica Moran, Mimi Pond, Sharon Rosenzweig, Joyce Schachter, Susan Merrill Squier, Emily Steinberg, Nicola Streeten, A. K. Summers, Kimiko Tobimatsu, Shelley L. Wall, and Dana Walrath.

MK Czerwiec is a nurse, cartoonist, educator, and co-founder of the field of Graphic Medicine. She is the creator of Taking Turns: Stories from HIV/AIDS Care Unit 371 and a co-author of Graphic Medicine Manifesto. MK is also the comics editor for the journal Literature & Medicine. MK regularly teaches graphic medicine at Northwestern University's Feinberg Medical School and the University of Chicago. She has served as a Senior Fellow of the George Washington School of Nursing Center for Health Policy and Media Engagement as well as a Will Eisner Fellow in Applied Cartooning at the Center for Cartoon Studies in White River Junction, Vermont. You can see more of her work at her website, www.comicnurse.com.

"Playful and enjoyable indeed, as well as moving, affirming, and solidarity-sparking."

-starred review Booklist

"Often informative, sometimes moving, and ambitious in its frank talk about what is oddly taboo: an inevitable experience for half of humanity."

-Publishers Weekly

"The cartoons in Menopause: A Comic Treatment depict what is generally considered an unbecoming, if not humiliating, life event. This collection, edited by M.K. Czerwiec, joins the Graphic Medicine Series (Escaping Wars and Waves) in treating a complex topic with candor and creativity. Twenty-five comics represent diverse women and their experiences, in drawing styles as distinctive as the artists."

-starred review Shelf Awareness

"Shattering the silence and secrecy surrounding the 'big change,' Menopause: A Comic Treatment offers an unflinching look at an often stigmatized or taboo topic."

-International Journal of Comic Art

"This is a new and unique offering for those interested in a humorous look at menopause transition. It serves as a sociocultural prism through which to view menopause and to see its diverse presentations and influences."

-Barbara Hoffman Doody's Review Service