Work-Life Balance

by Aisha Franz, Nicholas Houde (Translator)

A cutting portrayal of the pursuit of work-life balance from the cartoonist of Shit is Real

To achieve the proper work-life balance perhaps we just need the right therapist to coach us through our day-to-day. Anita, Sandra, and Dex have ambitions. Anita wants to move from making utility ceramics to fine art sculpture but her pent up dissatisfaction results in an outburst that puts her studio mate’s work at risk. Sandra juggles her practical administrative day job at a startup with her wellness influencer channel, finding both in jeopardy when a messy affair with her coworker comes to light. In another corner of the same startup, Dex’s innovative ideas are rejected, leading him to spend his days hacking and working as a bike courier. All three are disillusioned with their daily grinds. As the pressure for self-improvement builds they all end up looking to the same therapist for answers.

Soon the boundaries between work and life begin to bleed into each other and it becomes increasingly impossible to find balance. All the solace the characters expect their therapist to provide is obscured by her quirks, whims, and psycho-parlance, leading to sessions that are neglectful at best and actively inhibit growth at worst. In striking colors and trippy transformational sequences, Aisha Franz captures the comedic absurdity of contemporary work-life and wellness culture.

Work Life Balance is translated from the German by Nicholas Houde.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Graphic Novels Comics, Bande Dessinée, Mental Health, Humor, Fiction

241 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 18, 2022

Reviews

[Grayson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a really uncomfortable read, from the art style upon first opening the book, to the themes explored and scenes depicted. Despite being relatively short, I spent quite a good few evenings coming back to this and reading it in short chunks. It quite drying explores the corporate world: corporate office slippers, corporate idea theft, corporate sexual harassment, corporate funded therapy. This left me chewing on a lot of ideas, the way a therapist who refuses to talk to you might leave you feeling. The ideas are all out in the open but no satisfying resolution is given.

Many thanks to D&Q for the advanced reader copy.

[Aylin Kuhls · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ich mag den Stil nicht wirklich und der Humor ist auch nicht unbedingt nach meinem Geschmack. Daher bleibt nicht mehr viel übrig. Für die Bissigkeit des Themas also zwei Sterne. ✌️

[Estibaliz · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was indeed quirky, but more fun that I was expecting, so 3.5 stars are my final rating.

Though the style and tone of the story can make it feel quite superficial, there's actually some interesting themes, in what's basically a critique of modern life and corporate world.

Quite cynical and sharp, it could still have been better, as some characters' stories felt slightly pointless... then, maybe that was precisely the whole point, right?

[Rashi Malhotra · Rating 3 out of 5]

kinda weird

[Nikki Morse · Rating 2 out of 5]

The good thing about a bad graphic novel is at least you didn’t waste a lot of time on it.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fulfilled a need to read about some chaotic characters

[Jenna Elizabeth ×͜× · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and a little bit unhinged but in the best way possible I promise you… the art style is very unique and I really enjoyed the way the author connected the different subplots to each other and the way they resonate. The therapist is quite possibly my favorite character here though.

[jo-booksy]

Det här är bok nr 30 i min Challenge 2024 som jag har satt upp vid sidan av ordinarie GR Challenge. Den går ut på att läsa minst 12 böcker från länder och/eller av författare som jag inte är bekant med sedan tidigare. Avsikten är främst att upptäcka nya bekantskaper och spännande, intressanta platser i olika delar av världen. Jag vill "uppleva liv jag aldrig har levt, bredda mitt perspektiv och vidga mitt universum" som det så vackert heter. Nu har min egen utmaning spårat ur för länge sedan men det får väl bli så att ambitionen i år är att "läsa nytt" i den mån det är möjligt, typ.

Njaee, inte min grej. Intetsägande är det enda ordet jag kommer på för att beskriva denna läsupplevelse.

[Drew Canole · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the first 2 books from Aisha Franz. This one missed the mark for me, perhaps I'm sensitive about therapy stuff. This seemed to miss the mark. A few different characters visit a bad therapist, most of the book is just showing their stories so it feels like a collection of short stories. Perhaps the best one is about a coder doing contract work who gets his work stolen from him.

[Leena-Maaretta Dixon · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Shit is real" was so so good, so had high hopes for this, especially since this was going to discuss toxic work culture and failed artist dreams.
Sadly out of the three main characters, only one had a satisfying conclusion. And to be honest, I felt the way this comic tackled sexual harassment, where the predator is a woman and the victim is a man, fell flat. (Slight spoiler: I felt at the end we were meant to feel sorry for her, but there was not enough character development for me to care about her "sadness" at all).

[Francis Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read via NetGalley.

Wow, his was brutal!

I have to admit, I'm not a huge fan of the style, but I guess the style itself is part of the whole deal.

This is the story of three people and their common therapist. It is a brutal but sadly realistic slice of modern life, in which abuse is common. I found reading this very hard, but I was glad it had a somewhat hopeful ending.

[Sue Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

We all need some guidance with work-life balance these days .... only you need to be aware when something beneficial turns into something else entirely!

A loose graphic style that lends itself to saying more with less, we get to follow the exploits of three individuals as they venture into the realm of guided psychiatry. One seeks it voluntarily. One is forced into it by her employer. One crashes the website to see what it's all about.

It's mayhem at it's best!

Lots of fun to see the results!

[Salty Swift · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three individuals working out their problems via the same corporate-sponsored therapist may make a great read but in this case, the story disintegrates before it has a chance to truly take off. Each character is more nutty than their counterpart, with the therapist taking the prize for the most cranked-up, annoying and twisted protagonist in recent graphic novel history. Aisha Franz's work will either turn your crank or turn you off completely. Zero middle ground...

[Nacie]

Unsettling. Ironic. It follows a bunch of bad people in their jobs- tech, mediocre ceramicist, unemployed, therapist. I like the character expressions and customized spaces. There’s something about measures of success and work boundaries / alienation here. Nothing groundbreaking but visually enough. Would read more by her. Maybe it was different when in German. Ultimately unsure why this was made, but not mad about it.

[Elise V. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je n'ai pas vraiment réussi à m'intéresser à l'histoire des personnages, qui ne sont pas particulièrement développés ou attachants et sont souvent gênants d'ailleurs... le style de l'autrice est pourtant assez plaisant.

[Namo · Rating 2 out of 5]

เป็นหนังสือที่เล่าเรื่องราวการ balancing ‘work’ and ‘life’ ผ่านทาง comic book โดยเล่าผ่านทางตัวละครสองสามตัวที่มีอาชีพต่างกัน และต่างก็มีจุดมุ่งหมายทางด้านชีวิตและทาง career ต่างกัน
การ์ตูนเล่มนี้เลยทำให้เราเห็นมุมมองของคนทำงานหลากหลายด้าน ซึ่งสนุกดี เรื่องมีสอดแทรกมุขขำต่างๆมาเป็นระยะ

[Lisa]

I don't really know how I felt about this, except that I was glad I read it! While the art didn't really generally resonate with me, there were a few arresting images - I felt similarly about the concepts discussed/portrayed.

[Chris Brook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, loopy trip through the lives of three people attending sessions at a company-sponsored therapist. Thought this was more refined than the other Franz I read earlier this year, Earthling.

[Ags · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like it; I didn't get it; the boobs were weird. Maybe that's all the point.

I did think the virtual therapy was very funny. And, the critique of a bad therapist being part of corporate harms was a good idea that, perhaps, wasn't executed particularly well?

[bridget · Rating 1 out of 5]

nothing else to say other than, not a fan

[Elly · Rating 3 out of 5]

weird...

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

slightly insane + bizarre but great storytelling

[Myfischer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Définitivement pas mon style de BD. Mais ça se lit très bien.

[Lệ Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aisha Franz delves into so many ideas within a comic book, from the quarter-life crisis, cooperate issues, and sexual harassment to body dysmorphia, you name it— ideas that are all out in the open and anyone in their early 20s to 30s can find the characters relatable somehow. Her drawing style is filled with expressive lines and scribbly semi-abstract characters which can either throw some readers off or immediately hook them in (art is undoubtedly an exploration of unconventional lines and oddly-shaped characters in my view).
The therapist is the only connection to the three characters and I found it interesting how she was depicted: so nonchalant that her existence is merely a pattern. She appears from beginning to end with no further worthy appreciation. All the therapist did is giving a few meaningless words yet the space that she provided (virtually or physically) is what all three characters found themselves in for self-reflection. Not sure why the author didn’t name it as ‘Therapy’ instead of ‘Work-life balance’ since the book unfolds as a visual playful use of that word more than anything.

[Dory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perplexing.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, I don't know how to rate Aisha Franz's work! This, Work-Life Balance, is the third Drawn & Quarterly production, so she "has it made," clearly. I gave three stars to Earthling, Five stars to Shit is Real, and now three stars to this book, not that the cartooning isn't great--colorful, playful, and though the story is framed pretty boringly--it has touches of Shit is Real's humor and surrealism and invention. Crazy images. But this is a what-to-do-after art-school book, and I have become too familiar with the tropes from this sub-genre to really care about the substance of the story.

We meet several people in this book in dead-end jobs; one is mad at the arrogant mistreatment she received from her ex-prof, one is crazy jealous over the success of a fellow grad. Then there is online therapy--Virtuapy--with a crazy therapist who mainly gives out pills, never really talks, smokes constantly.

If you are twenty-something and in a boring dead end job after having so much hope for an artistic life, you might be able to relate to this. But it is not about, methinks, Aisha Franz, who has three books out (not that she is independently wealthy from it, but still). It's lovely, interesting--formally cool--not interesting, ach. Colorful. Yes, of course I'll read her next one, waiting for something that is not about these twenty-something topics, ouch, sorry.

Thanks to D&Q, the author, and Netgalley, who will all respond: T'anks for nuttin', loser. But this is how I FEEL!!! I need online therapy now!

[David Karlsson · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

Jag har haft den engelska utgåvan av den här boken på min tbr-lista ett tag så blev glad när den dök upp på svenska hos Lystring som fortsätter att berika den svenska seriefloran men spännande titlar som annars aldrig skulle hitta hit.

Här möter vi tre personer som alla kämpar med både arbets- och privatliv på olika sätt och som förenas av att de söker hjälp hos samma terapeut; en terapeut som tycks mer intresserad av sin egen balans än av att verkligen hjälpa sina patienter. Det är en härlig satir som utöver terapins möjligheter även undersöker avundsjuka, influencerambitioner, kontorslivets och frilansandets baksidor, Marie Kondo och mycket mer.

I slutändan är det inte terapin som erbjuder förlösning utan att själv angripa sina problem (gärna med ett visst mått av destruktivitet) medan att istället fästa för mycket tilltro till sin terapeut fungerar sämre. Om Franz vill förmedla ett budskap med det eller om det bara handlar om denna enskilda terapeut låter jag vara osagt, roligt är det i alla fall.

Teckningsmässigt är det charmigt och lagomt naivt, med en fin färgsättning. Formmässigt är det också toppklass som vanligt hos Lystring, som jämte Bakhåll kanske är det förlag som främst håller halvklotbandets fana högt. Hatten av för det!

[Joseph Young · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the quirky art style. The 3 main characters, artist, senior programmer/influencer, and designer/hacker are tied together by a lackluster psychiatrist as they struggle through their work/life issues. My problem is that it's hard to like any of the characters besides maybe the artist. Her story, deals with having to appeal commercially vs creating sincere art, honestly a mildly lucky problem to have, representing some artistic success. The 2nd character, sexual harasser, actually faces consequences. While I support that, it seems to speak mildly to society's misogyny of holding women accountable while letting other powerful people go. The naive designer behind on his rent has what feels like the least likely story in the end. Honestly, it would make more sense if they did it on their own, shorting the company's stock, instead of miraculously finding a group that shares a grievance. I wonder if the characters would have had a completely different life if they had a proper psychiatrist from the get go. Is this another dig at corporate psychiatry?

Mildly relatable, but not hugely compelling or ground breaking. Definitely a light read.

[Raven Black · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an Emotion book. Not an emotional book, but an Emotion Book. You come away with feels. Some good, some bad, some really icky, and some What The Flaming Monkey Toots????? The art (according to the publisher description) is "striking" and I say down right trippy. The switching of styles (from each charter and the "new chapter" announcement) is both interesting and off putting. A reviewer here said it was "uncomfortable" from the art style to the themes and "scenes depicted." And "The ideas are all out in the open but no satisfying resolution is given." And another said that they had more fun than expected. And I agree. This is not for a casual reader of graphic novels, someone looking for a "solid" start/middle/ending, or a real ending. Mature situations and concepts make this "artsy" but not "unreachable." A book that was averaged out to a three as it has everything from a negative rating to a rating of infinity. The right reader will get everything from it, the wrong one, nothing.

[Isabella Akhtarshenas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome graphic novel! What made me pick this one off the shelf at a book fair was within the first few pages — the ceramicist struggling with being a “real artist” and needing to maintain an online audience. ughhh, tough balance that I know all too well.

The illustrations are delightful and consistent, it is very clever how each “chapter” is separated by a full-page illustration in a different style from the storyline to set the scene of each character. I think that everyone can relate to something from each of these characters. I just got laid off from a corporate job so the way cooperations are depicted as characatures of themselves in this was a well-times read in my life. This book made me cringe a lot and it also made me burst out laughing but i was so into it that I finished it in one sitting.