Demented

by Jacky Fleming

Have the inevitable signs of aging taken you completely by surprise? Do emails from grade school acquaintances precipitate an instant mid-life crisis? Has your computer introduced levels of frustration into your life that you never dreamed were possible? Does the sound of orchestrated easy-listening music while you're on hold for half an hour drive you to despair? Then this demented cartoon narrative may help slightly, although how I can't imagine. This is an absolute must for the middle-aged but immature woman and her bewildered partner—or anyone obsessed with looking on the Internet at properties for sale in sunny countries.

Genres: Humor

128 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2006

About the author

Jacky Fleming went to a suffragette school in London. She emerged awesomely uneducated because of the teachers' inexplicable preference for Latin as a first language. A year at Chelsea School of Art and a degree in fine art at Leeds University greatly improved her table-football technique. Other qualifications include A— for posture and a silver medal in Latin-American dancing. A brief stint in the art department of a London periodical was followed by eleven years teaching art as a foreign language. Jacky lives in Yorkshire and hates cooking. (from Be a Bloody Train Driver)

Jacky Fleming was born in London in 1955. In her art studies at Leeds University, she began to deal with feminism. Her first comic strips appeared in 1978 and since then she has been drawing for newspapers, among others. for The Guardian, The Observer, The Big Issue and for various publishers.

Reviews

[Rosemary Standeven · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unlike the other two Jacky Fleming books I have read, “Demented” is much more a graphic novel, than a succession of witty cartoons and short observations. Also, unlike the other two, I did not find this book particularly amusing. Nor did I feel that this was a book I could pass on to my husband (he loved the other two books). My big problem is that, like my husband, most men, and hopefully more than a few women, there is almost nothing in the book that relates to my view of my life. The only exception was the end section on dealing with automated messaging systems when trying to reach a human being: “if you’ve completely forgotten what you are phoning about and which option was which number press 4”.
I have never worried about growing old – I’ve worn glasses since the age of eight, I like my grey hair, and Mary Beard is my role model. Having previously always looked younger than my years, it is almost a relief to finally look my age. My health is a much bigger concern than my hair, wrinkles, weight …. And I couldn’t care less if people I went to school with are more successful than me, after all, both my siblings are. I find it slightly worrying, that an author who has produced so much good (and witty) feminist writing, should concentrate on supposedly universal female concerns, that appear to be generated by masculine derogation of women defined by their looks. Perhaps, I am not a real woman at all.

[Maria Longley · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character of this graphic novel end sup down an internet rabbit hole and reconnects with s a school friend she hasn't seen they were 11. This triggers a crisis that she is an immature middle-aged woman - and what really is the point. (The point of school was skipping.) It is gently funny, with some surprisingly sharp digs at various aspects, that is until you remember that this is by Jacky Fleming and then that makes sense too. I enjoyed this a lot.

[Katca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Loved the art style. A quick and funny read but not that special