The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief

by Carol Tyler

During collisions between life and death, estrangement and loss, Carol Tyler turned to her pen to face facts and extract meaning from the oddly sacred experience. Exploring realms metaphorical, half-imagined, and all-too-real, she explored previously uncharted emotional territory for herself and others, in a work that is both painfully intimate and philosophically rich.An artistic advancement nearly forty years into Tyler’s comics-making career, The Ephemerata features Tyler’s most breathtaking picture making ever — fine, dense brush lines complemented with occasional color washes or highlights — and formally stunning cartooning. Combining art and text in multiple ways — in the traditional comics panel grid, as words-and-illustration, as organically flowing images surrounded by floating text — she depicts the inner monologue of a fallible human being grappling with questions of profound relevance. Tyler’s memoirist skills also rise to the fore, excavating and colliding scenes from her history, delineating with sensitive intuition ways in which the inevitability of grief is built into our lives and our loves. To struggle in the face of loss is a universal experience. To turn it into this compassionate, deep and beautiful book takes a true artist.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Memoir, Nonfiction

232 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2025

Reviews

[Rod Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

Carol Tyler recounts her extended period of grief and depression following the deaths of several people close to her.

Unfortunately, the storytelling here is scattered and near incoherent at times, jumbled with random thoughts, digressions, hallucinations and dreams. She lets us in her head, sure, but it's not a place I want to be. I've been following Tyler's work since the 1980s, but after her disappointing book on Beatlemania and now this, it may be time to stop.

She does note in the introduction that this is the first of a two-part work, so maybe it will all come together in the second half . . . ?


Disclosure: I received access to a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.com.

[Valerie Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

"death is when the sugar is gone"

I hope this helped the author go through what she was going through but this should've stayed a personal project because what I thought would be a complicated exploration through grief and how it has changed how it looks over time turned into a convoluted art style where the font choice made it nearly impossible to read at times as well as the writing style itself ("them things am not trees"), misplaced humor and not even in a dry, I don't know how else to cope, but just cringe (Griefville, really?), and a very questionable viewpoint on life (because why did the only black character talk like that and why did this end with no growth or discovery being made)

[Peter Landau · Rating 5 out of 5]

You expect grief to go in one direction, but this excellent cartoonist’s exploration of the death of her parents leads us down many rabbit holes. Sad, disturbing, but never less than inventive, I’d follow her down anywhere.

[Cheryl Klein · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idiosyncratic, painful, beautiful, and honest—all qualities of this book and of grief itself, a subject Tyler knows too much about after losing her mother, sister, dog, and friends in rapid succession. She aptly depicts the many flavors of grief, and invites readers on a tour of "Griefville," a sort of afterlife for the bereaved. What she also nails: life doesn't stop just because your personal universe ground to a halt. E.g. She is deep in the throes of mourning when her neighbor asks her to bury the dog she likely abused (the neighbor, that is). Could anything be more horrible? Carol wonders. She knows the answer is yes. Also, grief is not just for people lost to death. It's for betrayals, estrangements, and one's own self. There is no sugar coating in The Ephemerata, but there is much beauty.

[Pchu · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book, like all books that try to meet grief head-on, captures something essential about losing your mind. I love that this book doesn't have a clear narrative and at times plays with strange sentence structure. I liked that some of the images don't seem to make sense, and some take on bigger meanings. I liked that there are almost no real lessons learned through this volume except, maybe, that the stress of grief causes bodily harm.

I've read many books about grief at this point (and I suppose I'm biased to judge them gently and favorably), and even though this one was not as directly relatable to me as some others, I still felt the connection of griever-to-griever through these pages.

[Laura Hoffman Brauman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard to place The Ephemerata into a genre or category - the closest would be graphic memoir, but that doesn't feel like it encompasses the scope of this work. Tyler experienced the loss of several people close to her in a short period of time, including her mother, her sister, and one of her best friends. She also dealt with a loss of a sort of her daughter due to addiction. In Ephemerata, she not only speaks to these experiences, she also explored the range of emotions that come with grief and the non-linear process of experiencing it. It's an emotional read and probably not for everyone, but I thought the rawness and flow of the work captured something visceral about the experience of grief.

[Kathy Shimpock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Carol Tyler's book is a graphic memoir. Its a tome on death, grief and loss as she experienced it over a 16 year time period. Tyler addresses the big questions that death puts before us; and she shares how it presents in life through the death of her elderly mother, her sister with cancer and a neighborhood friend. The story at times is raw but it is equally imaginative, tender and comic. She uses metaphor skillfully through words and illustrations. It takes the reader deep into the forest of "Griefville and leaves before all questions are answered. The book is entitled "Ephemerata: The Exquisite Nature of Grief" because the story is shared in snippets of memory, facts and emotion. Black and white, pen and ink illustrations always enhance and often lead the text. The author is a Baby Boomer and this book speaks to many issues facing her sandwich generation. Tyler is an award winning author/illustrator and this is another win for her.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to NetGalley and Fantagraphics for an advance copy of a graphic novel that looks at something most humans will have to deal with, the feelings that come from losing a loved one, and how it can be both a destructive and creative force, depending on how we deal with it.

My father had been on life support with no chances of coming out of his coma for over a week. We decided to plan his funeral, get suits and food on Monday. Tuesday turn off the machine. Wake on Wednesday. Funeral on Thursday, deal with paperwork on Friday and go back to work for my brother and I on Monday. To some this was crazy, but I know my Father would have respected how we did things. This helped us deal with something that seemed overwhelming, though again many thought it was odd. Too bad. Grief is something we all deal with, and all deal with in different ways. This was twenty-five years ago and much has changed in the world. We have a government that seems to get it jollies from watching people grieve in many ways. People will probably look at a graphic novel like this, and go jeez get over it. Can't grieve forever. Well some do. And some don't. And some create works to reflect this. The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief by Carol Tyler is a graphic novel that looks at life, loss, love, the listlessness that comes when people die around us, and the longing to understand why going on seems so difficult, and yet necessary.

Carol Tyler is a comic artist and creator who has used her own life as a muse, creating works based on her father, and based on her own experiences. In a short period of time Tyler lost her mother, other members of her family, friends, even a neighborhood dog. The book is a response to both all the deaths and a study of how she processed these losses, mentally, physically and emotionally. Visiting a place in her mind called Griefville, population herself. Gardening. Working not working. Being blocked and pouring out ideas. The story starts to swirl and twirl on itself, drifting in time and space, from moments of life, to moments beyond. Real moments clash with imaginary conversations about things of importance that were never said, and still are a burden even if the people have gone. Diary entries get surreal, drift along on paper and come back with lessons, or even more confusion. Tyler spends a lot of time trying to create answers to questions that are unknowable, but something we all have to face, something that will happen to ourselves as well as those around us.

A book that should be dark but is not, and one that does not promise answers, and yet there is an understanding at the end. This is not something one just sits down with and hoping to be entertained. There is a lot of emotionally weight of course, but a lot of different kinds of story telling. Some might seem simplistic, some is really deep. Being human means not sharing in many ways, and the weight of this not sharing becomes quite a burden when one loses someone and so much is unsaid. That weight is on al lot of the pages here, which can make for tough reading. The art is really good. Detailed in places, swirling and drifting across the pages, making text and image mix in ways that might seem hard to understand, but something I remember from my father's passing. Nothing made sense at the time, even the things that should have made sense. How can people be so normal when everything is going wrong. I've really not felt that on paper, well ereader I should say.

There is a lot here, and this might not be the graphic novel for everyone. I well to say enjoy sounds mean, but it is true. I understood it, and felt the better for it, might be a good way to describe this work. There is a lot that graphic story telling can do, and it is good to have people stretch the boundaries, both in comics and in life. We don't talk enough about death, about grieving and how to help others get through these feelings. A rare and powerful work.

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to the author, Carol Tyler, Fantagraphics, and New Galley for the early look at this work to be released in September 2025.

Carol Tyler, one of the great comics artist, known mostly for her memoir work and a three volume biography of her father's WWII years, in Ephemerata gives us a kind of remarkable story of all the grief that came down on her over a period of time, including (especially) the loss of her mother, but also friends, favorite pets. It's almost Job-like in the tumult of death that rains down on her. At one point it seems tragi-comic, as her mother is dying and then she has to come to bury a neighbor's dog, and then more happens: Grief brings on stress that tears at your body and sould. Tyler calls it Griefville, and no one wants to live there, though living through it can provide meaningful results. in This draft she isn't yet sure what those benefits might be, really, as she is mainly pouring out all the bad stuff. Her subtitle says "Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief," and while it is often reflective on all the physical, familial, psychic and so on dimensions of her grieving, it hasn't hit anything "exquisite" yet, and sure as hell could be trimmed and shaped and focused more.

Of course, to those of who are older, we know you attend many more funerals than weddings and baptisms in your seventies. My mom was the fourteenth in a family of fourteen, and she watched the deaths of her parents and ALL her siblings by the time she was in her eighties. I thought whew, and now it is happening to me as I lose my family one by one. So this is a familiar thing for many of us, all too common. Tell us somepin we don't know, Carol!

I think this is book is too long for what it accomplishes; it's more for her than us, as she tells us everything she can think of principally focused on her mom's dying. And increasingly, as events pile on, there are too many words, too few images. It's comics! But I appreciate her doing it for those who can relate to it and for whom it can maybe capture their own experience. And I thank Fantagraphics for honoring a comics icon at 73 and giving us a chance to see more of her work.

[Emi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publishing date: 21.10.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Fantagraphics Books for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

TLDR //
A graphic memoir where the author tackles her grief. Entirely hand-drawn and hand-written.
DNF at 62%, would be 3 stars

Quickfire likes and gripes //
Fascinating style
Emotional

Writing is very small and hard to rea


What didn’t work for me //
I could not get into this like I wanted to. Part of the problem is the text itself too. The entire graphic novel is hand written, and the handwriting is hard to read. I think a simpler writing style would benefit the book greatly. Less text too. Sometimes less is more.

Other than that it was just a bit messy and draggy plot wise. This is a very personal story and I hope it helped the author to get it on paper. It might be a little hard for others to read, but that is the way grief usually is.

Audience //
For lovers of sad and haunting graphic novels. But only if you can read a great variety of writing styles. My dyslexic gang might have a hard time

Final Verdict //
I wanted to love this like I love most sad graphic novels. But I don’t think it was for me. Giving this 3 stars

[Ije the Devourer of Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Difficult to read, but courageous as the author explores grief, death, loss and the experiences of these. It is deeply, personal, painful but also brave as the author explores her own experiences and shares them through her artwork and prose. It is not your run of the mill memoir, this graphic novel ventures into deep and difficult places and takes the reader along with them.

Copy provided via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

[Curious Madra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for granting my wish to read this book!

Tbh even though I can understand the POV of the author talking about grief in general and how it all affects us differently. However I thought it was just long winded and scribbly like ngl, the drawings aren’t that great unfortunately. It just made me boring to read through tbh…..

[Matthew Noe]

Booklist review pending

[Jacob Brogan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book seems to have meant a great deal to its author. I found little that meant much to me in its scattered, discontinuous pages.

[Susan Dunker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well reviewed graphic novel about grief. It was heavy, understandably. Mother, father, sister, close neighbor, pet dog, all died, and more terrible stuff happened to her. I need a palate cleanser.