Filthyratbag: A Journey Through Growing Up, Grieving & Turning Pain into Diamonds

by Celeste Mountjoy

The artist known as Filthyratbag aims for the heart in this illustrated memoir on grief and Gen Z girlhood, shot through with equal parts incredulity and longing

Celeste Mountjoy makes art that explores anxiety, feminism, addiction, body image, relationships, and power. With uncanny precision, it articulates the dark stuff we feel but dare not show. Mountjoy has become a voice for a generation of women who are ambivalent about the absurd, sometimes harrowing, path to adulthood. In her debut book, she tells razor-sharp stories and shares never-before-seen illustrations that walk us through the twistiest parts of growing up, from encountering creepy old men and dealing with grief to getting really drunk and existential. Filthyratbag is at once a primal scream, a shrug, and a PSA declaring that even though growing up is brutal, there are always more beautiful things to come.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Nonfiction, Comics

240 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Glorious. Like looking in a fucked up funhouse mirror. I’ve never felt so seen.

[Maddie Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was incredible and I feel like I found it at the perfect time in my life. It’s incredibly witty and made me laugh out loud multiple times, but at the same time, I found myself getting teary-eyed at certain parts. It was also almost too relatable at times, but I’m so glad to have discovered someone who has similar views of life and the world. All of the illustrations were perfect. This is one that I will find myself picking up time and time again!

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got this book because I have been looking at single drawings and loving Celeste’s art. It is a feeling you relate to and the book gives some insights of what inspired the drawings making me have a collection of my favourite sketches and relating to this woman even more.
Big love

[cailey:) · Rating 5 out of 5]

just so good- every page felt like it was taken directly from my own life and my own brain honestly so relatable and validating that it hurts and so funny too

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars only because I want more

[Campbell Burns · Rating 5 out of 5]

mmmmmmmmMMMmmm yes

[zosia krajcovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 (filthyratslay)

[Diana Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I will start that this is not a bad book. I like the drawings and I thought the intro was really good. There were moments I could relate too but I just think that overall I will find this forgettable.

[Teghan · Rating 1 out of 5]

author starts off by saying she's above therapy and doesn't need it....then proceeds to unironically and unawarely write a book proving that she desperately needs therapy.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ho preso questo fumetto come prima prova della nuova (per me) biblioteca vicino a casa. È piccolina, ma ci sono tanti volumi interessanti, e ne ho approfittato per testarla.

Filthyratbag mi è piaciuto. Per quanto le mie esperienze siano state differenti da quelle dell’autrice, l’ansia e la sensazione di perdita e di star sbagliando sono qualcosa con cui è semplice essere in sintonia – c’è qualcosa di generazionalmente universale nel fatto che non sappiamo dove stiamo andando o cosa stiamo facendo. Certe pagine sono state un colpo al cuore, in particolare quelle dedicate al lutto, e non ho potuto fare a meno di leggerle e rileggerle fino ad assorbirle. La mia speranza è che davvero da tutta questa pressione di arrivi a un diamante – per quanto so che ci voglia molto tempo.

Mi sono piaciuti molto anche i disegni. Sto iniziando ad apprezzare questi stili più “sporchi” e personali, hanno qualcosa di estremamente comunicativo e che funziona bene – soprattutto con una narrazione come questa, più spezzata. Certo, rimarrò sempre una grande fan di quelli più rifiniti e puliti, ma qui non è il caso di fare le pulci.

4/5⭐

[Sam Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so real. So real and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

I am so thankful to Tarcher Perigee for sending me a gorgeous finished copy of this baby before it hits shelves on April 23, 2024.

Celeste Mountjoy's doodles and text are wisdom for the aching soul that struggles with anxiety and depression. While this book doesn't get wrapped up in a pretty little bow of resolution, it caters to a very real audience that struggles with these issues by providing a realistic response. That response is waiting on the change to come without trying to solve all of your problems in one day and expecting results immediately. We do the best we can every day and sometimes that's the best option.

The doodles and illustrations had me laughing out loud with reliability and I look forward to consuming more of the Mountjoy's works to come.

[Paloma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars! i turn twenty in four days. i’ve been feeling very lost with my life as i’m not where i thought i would be by this time.

this book caught my eye and i knew i needed to read it. and i’m so glad i did. i connected so much with the discussions of intrusive thoughts and obsessive practices. i have very severe ocd and the section about trying to picture you’re somewhere to help calm down only for you brain to hijack it impacted me a lot.

i think i picked this up at a good time in my life. to know that im not alone in my struggles and my pain. i seriously related to so much in this book and the parts that i didn’t relate to i felt like a long time friend was confiding in me about their life.

i think that if you are in a transitional phase in your life you should pick this up!!

[Aapo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kirjassa käydään läpi monenlaisia kasvukipuja (päihteitä, toksisia ihmissuhteita, yleisluontoisia elämänhallinnan ongelmia) mustan huumorin värittämänä. Piirrokset on tehty paksulla tussilla (tai siis siltä näyttää, voi toki olla tietokoneellakin) ja vahvoilla väreillä, niukalla väriskaalalla. Periaatteessa pidin näistä kaikista elementeistä, mutta en vain saanut kokonaisuudesta otetta. Kyse ei varsinaisesti ole sarjakuvasta, vaan kuvia on useimmiten vain yksi per sivu tai aukeama. Tarina ei mielestäni jatkunut tarpeeksi hyvin sivulta seuraavalle, tai ainakin minä tipuin siinä kyydistä.

[Rita · Rating 5 out of 5]

found this artist on social media like 5 yrs ago and thought her creations were funny & relatable. i bought the book thinking it was a coffee table book but it was a quick 250 page book of drawings and the author’s inner monologue. she brought her refreshingly relatable anxieties, neuroses, and thoughts to life through the words, stories, and drawings, despite having an adolescence so different than mine.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars
This book kicks ass. It's the perfect balance of humor, relatability, and incredibly clever poetry. The storytelling techniques that the author uses are captivating, with just the right amount of ambiguity for the reader to connect the author's experiences with their own. I only wish it was longer!

[Dana McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly relatable. Powerful without being so emotional that you can’t read it in public. Celeste Mountjoy paints a perfect depiction of what it feels like to cope with anxiety and insecurity through alcohol, attachment to attention, the feeling of stuffing down the grief when it is too much to handle. I loved this book.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A coming of age story about a young woman’s descent into alcoholism as she desperately seeks attention and unsurprisingly can’t find it in promiscuous relationships with one dimensional men. With vibrant and twisted illustrations, humans quickly become inhuman.

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

a bit like reading Rupi's Milk and Honey, but with cool, wacky art - trauma of grief, alcoholism, looking for validation in (older) men, anxiety, adage of time heals. Pretty good, I was mostly in it for the art; my own damage isn't the same, can't really relate.

[Rekki · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhh... yep. The author definitely needs therapy, lol. The art was cool and weird so that was fun, but I have to say I couldn't relate at all. I'm sure there are plenty of other people who do, though, and this is for them- not me.

[Sarah Berk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really loved this and read through it so quickly! Would like to get a personal copy because it's beautiful and relatable.

[Riley Spellman · Rating 5 out of 5]

For any fans of Celeste Mountjoy, please note that this book is the same as her book, “What the fuck is this?” (I’m 99% sure). So don’t buy both, but do read one of them!

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

The section on grief hit so hard. I wish this book was longer

[freya · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5

[jordnöts fitzbitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly same

[mfc · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5☆

[Cheyenne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful

[Keri Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Myesha D · Rating 4 out of 5]

Same, sis

[Mya Legris · Rating 5 out of 5]

i bought this assuming it would be a light funny girl read, damn i have never related so much to a picture book

[Lucas Brito · Rating 5 out of 5]

beautiful, hope to see a full fledged comic book by celeste someday