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Back, Sack & Crack (& Brain): A Rather Graphic Novel About Living With Embarrassing Health Problems
Rob Wells has spent much of his adult life coping with chronic pain of different kinds - an embarrassing bowel problem in his early 20s, recurring testicular pain in his late 20s and 30s, and back problems requiring spinal surgery in his early 40s. Consistent through these experiences has been a feeling of being passed from pillar to post by the medical community, seemingly at a loss to explain the cause of these issues, or to find a lasting solution for them.
This hilarious and brutally frank graphic memoir tells Rob's story, taking us through emergency surgery for a misdiagnosed twisted testicle, the extremes of weight loss and weight gain, the insides of far too many public toilets, and having to resort to walking with a cane. As Rob's back, sack and crack all became causes for concern so too did his brain, as his recurring problems unsurprisingly left him with depression and agoraphobia.
This is the warm and witty story of a man's battle with his own body, and with the medical industry that couldn't quite appreciate the problem. For anyone who has ever felt let down by their doctors, or who has suffered with chronic pain that shows no sign of subsiding, Rob Wells bravely invites you to really get to grips with his balls.
This hilarious and brutally frank graphic memoir tells Rob's story, taking us through emergency surgery for a misdiagnosed twisted testicle, the extremes of weight loss and weight gain, the insides of far too many public toilets, and having to resort to walking with a cane. As Rob's back, sack and crack all became causes for concern so too did his brain, as his recurring problems unsurprisingly left him with depression and agoraphobia.
This is the warm and witty story of a man's battle with his own body, and with the medical industry that couldn't quite appreciate the problem. For anyone who has ever felt let down by their doctors, or who has suffered with chronic pain that shows no sign of subsiding, Rob Wells bravely invites you to really get to grips with his balls.
224 pages, Paperback
First published June 29, 2017
1 person is currently reading
62 people want to read
About the author
Robert Wells
1 book3 followersI am a cartoonist, illustrator and writer who has been drawing comics since the early 1990s. My comics include Crisp Biscuit, Crisp, Colin Comix, and Department of the Peculiar (with writer Rol Hirst). I have produced illustrations for magazines such as Music Tech and Metal Hammer.
'Back, Sack & Crack (& Brain)', which was published by Little, Brown in 2017, is my first graphic novel. The first 15 pages were shortlisted for the 2014 Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel Prize.
'Back, Sack & Crack (& Brain)', which was published by Little, Brown in 2017, is my first graphic novel. The first 15 pages were shortlisted for the 2014 Myriad Editions First Graphic Novel Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 12, 2019
Oy! You think *you’ve* got troubles.
From the cover, you can pretty easily guess what you're in for. But what the cover doesn't reveal is how fun this story is. Robert Wells is perfectly fine with humor at his own expense, and it adds heaps of entertainment to what could easily have been 223 pages of whining and complaining.
Robert Wells spent many years of his life dealing with chronic pain--back and groin--as well as irritable bowel syndrome. Add to this a seemingly endless stream of National Health doctors all too ready to assure him that the pain is all in his head, and … well, it's a wonder his sense of humor survived.
One of the quotes on the back cover (from Ian Williams, of The Bad Doctor fame) sums up the book as “... Filthy and puerile, yet wise and weighty.” Wells definitely isn't afraid to be puerile if the situation calls for it (I’ll admit: I snickered at the line, “Nurse, could you fetch me the Colon Mole 3000, please?”), but it would definitely be a mistake to imagine that that's all there was to his sense of humor. Laughter is one of the many ways that we deal with pain, after all.
Needless to say, I found Back,Sack & Crack (& Brain) to be highly entertaining. Definitely recommended!
From the cover, you can pretty easily guess what you're in for. But what the cover doesn't reveal is how fun this story is. Robert Wells is perfectly fine with humor at his own expense, and it adds heaps of entertainment to what could easily have been 223 pages of whining and complaining.
Robert Wells spent many years of his life dealing with chronic pain--back and groin--as well as irritable bowel syndrome. Add to this a seemingly endless stream of National Health doctors all too ready to assure him that the pain is all in his head, and … well, it's a wonder his sense of humor survived.
One of the quotes on the back cover (from Ian Williams, of The Bad Doctor fame) sums up the book as “... Filthy and puerile, yet wise and weighty.” Wells definitely isn't afraid to be puerile if the situation calls for it (I’ll admit: I snickered at the line, “Nurse, could you fetch me the Colon Mole 3000, please?”), but it would definitely be a mistake to imagine that that's all there was to his sense of humor. Laughter is one of the many ways that we deal with pain, after all.
Needless to say, I found Back,Sack & Crack (& Brain) to be highly entertaining. Definitely recommended!
May 14, 2018
Brilliant and painfully (and hilariously) honest examination of illness! Highly recommended!
November 18, 2017
We came across this in Forbidden Planet while we were browsing nerdy things this summer in London, and I was excited to see what it was all about. In this graphic novel, Robert Wells details his long-term struggle with various health issues, namely stomach problems and chronic, intermittently crippling, groin and back pain. He writes about how these symptoms first presented themselves, his difficulty in trying to get a diagnosis, and how these problems have affected his everyday life for the past twenty years.
I have Crohn's disease, and as with most people with any kind of chronic intestinal issues, it took quite a few years to get a proper diagnosis. I spent over five years in and out of doctors' offices, each time being told I just had irritable bowel syndrome before being immediately dismissed. None of the drugs prescribed seemed to help at all, and it was a very frustrating and frightening time in my life. I wasn't always sick, but there was no way to predict when I would be and seemingly no way to treat it.
So a lot of what he describes in this graphic novel really hit home for me - the fear of not knowing what's wrong with you, the frustration of struggling to get to the doctor's office while sick for an appointment that amounts to nothing, the anxiety of getting on public transportation with no access to a washroom, the initial shame of having an embarrassing disorder (irritable bowel, I mean really?), having to miss out on social events with vague excuses.
When you're sick with an unknown illness over a long period, it can feel very lonesome. It feels like there's no one else who understands what you're going though, so when someone does show interest, it can be difficult not to unload on them hours upon hours of details - this doctor ignored me, the next two said I had this, one finally prescribed me this drug, it didn't work so then I went on this, we then tried a different dosage, meanwhile I was trying this on my own - and on and on. There's something in you that really wants to get across the full frustration of what's happened. He's been quite ill for a huge part of his life, so that's a lot to unload, and this comic unfortunately falls into that trap a little too much. It is a memoir of his sickness, and sometimes I think he prioritized minute details over entertainment, although it does feel like that was a conscious decision. I imagine this was very therapeutic to write and draw.
A running theme in this is his doctors telling him the problem is in his head, and while he clearly hasn't imagined all of these issues, he does come to the realization by the end that the stress of worrying could be making his symptoms worse. Reading that was a nice reminder to myself. Stress can really affect Crohn's, and I have the uncanny ability to see everything that could possibly go wrong at any moment. I worry about getting sick, which in turn can make things worse, which then makes me more anxious, and it becomes a self-destructive cycle. While we were in Australia last month, I did try to be mindful about how much I worry about my illness and remind myself that I can't control everything. I feel like it really helped, actually.
There's no cure for Crohn's, but I'm on drugs now that control it fairly well at the moment, and I have a wonderfully patient and understanding girlfriend, so I'm in a much better place. I have off days, and I still struggle with some drug side-effects and lingering anxiety, but Crohn's can get quite nasty for people, so I consider myself lucky.
I really enjoyed this. I'm not sure how it would read to someone who couldn't relate to what he's going through, but he does do a great job of conveying what it feels like to live with chronic pain and an embarrassing illness. And props to him for having the confidence to write this. He really doesn't hold back, particularly when drawing himself nude. I mean, give yourself at least a bit of a break, man. No one would know.
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I have Crohn's disease, and as with most people with any kind of chronic intestinal issues, it took quite a few years to get a proper diagnosis. I spent over five years in and out of doctors' offices, each time being told I just had irritable bowel syndrome before being immediately dismissed. None of the drugs prescribed seemed to help at all, and it was a very frustrating and frightening time in my life. I wasn't always sick, but there was no way to predict when I would be and seemingly no way to treat it.
So a lot of what he describes in this graphic novel really hit home for me - the fear of not knowing what's wrong with you, the frustration of struggling to get to the doctor's office while sick for an appointment that amounts to nothing, the anxiety of getting on public transportation with no access to a washroom, the initial shame of having an embarrassing disorder (irritable bowel, I mean really?), having to miss out on social events with vague excuses.
When you're sick with an unknown illness over a long period, it can feel very lonesome. It feels like there's no one else who understands what you're going though, so when someone does show interest, it can be difficult not to unload on them hours upon hours of details - this doctor ignored me, the next two said I had this, one finally prescribed me this drug, it didn't work so then I went on this, we then tried a different dosage, meanwhile I was trying this on my own - and on and on. There's something in you that really wants to get across the full frustration of what's happened. He's been quite ill for a huge part of his life, so that's a lot to unload, and this comic unfortunately falls into that trap a little too much. It is a memoir of his sickness, and sometimes I think he prioritized minute details over entertainment, although it does feel like that was a conscious decision. I imagine this was very therapeutic to write and draw.
A running theme in this is his doctors telling him the problem is in his head, and while he clearly hasn't imagined all of these issues, he does come to the realization by the end that the stress of worrying could be making his symptoms worse. Reading that was a nice reminder to myself. Stress can really affect Crohn's, and I have the uncanny ability to see everything that could possibly go wrong at any moment. I worry about getting sick, which in turn can make things worse, which then makes me more anxious, and it becomes a self-destructive cycle. While we were in Australia last month, I did try to be mindful about how much I worry about my illness and remind myself that I can't control everything. I feel like it really helped, actually.
There's no cure for Crohn's, but I'm on drugs now that control it fairly well at the moment, and I have a wonderfully patient and understanding girlfriend, so I'm in a much better place. I have off days, and I still struggle with some drug side-effects and lingering anxiety, but Crohn's can get quite nasty for people, so I consider myself lucky.
I really enjoyed this. I'm not sure how it would read to someone who couldn't relate to what he's going through, but he does do a great job of conveying what it feels like to live with chronic pain and an embarrassing illness. And props to him for having the confidence to write this. He really doesn't hold back, particularly when drawing himself nude. I mean, give yourself at least a bit of a break, man. No one would know.
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July 27, 2017
Not a book for prudes. But if people know how to read a title, they know what they're in for. The honest description of the author's many ailments is perfectly balanced by the humour that percolate through the pages which I guess was his life buoy all those years. So, that's what we can and should identify with. Life is not perfect but seeing the funny side of it helps carrying on. Robert Wells is the graphic novel version of Matt Haig. Can't wait to read his next book.
September 16, 2019
I really wish I could have found out why. But I think the artist/writer also would like to know!! 🙃
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews