What do you think?
Rate this book
Blame This on the Boogie
The true story of how Hollywood musicals got one person through school, depression, and the challenges of parenthood
Inspired by the visual richness and cinematic structure of the Hollywood musical, Blame This on the Boogie chronicles the adventures of a Filipino American girl born in the decade of disco who escapes life’s hardships and mundanity through the genre’s feel-good song-and-dance numbers. Rina Ayuyang explores how the glowing charm of the silver screen can transform reality, shaping a person’s approach to childhood, relationships, sports, reality TV, and eventually politics, parenthood, and mortality.
Ayuyang’s comics are as vibrant as the movies that she loves. Her deeply personal, moving stories unveil the magic of the world around us―rendering the ordinary extraordinary through a jazzed-up song-and-dance routine. Ayuyang showcases the way her love of musicals became a form of therapeutic distraction to circumnavigate a childhood of dealing with cultural differences, her struggles with postpartum depression, and an adulthood overshadowed by an increasingly frightening and depressing political climate.
Blame This on the Boogie is Ayuyang’s ode to the melody of the world, and shows how tuning out of life and into the magic of Hollywood can actually help an outsider find her place in it.
Inspired by the visual richness and cinematic structure of the Hollywood musical, Blame This on the Boogie chronicles the adventures of a Filipino American girl born in the decade of disco who escapes life’s hardships and mundanity through the genre’s feel-good song-and-dance numbers. Rina Ayuyang explores how the glowing charm of the silver screen can transform reality, shaping a person’s approach to childhood, relationships, sports, reality TV, and eventually politics, parenthood, and mortality.
Ayuyang’s comics are as vibrant as the movies that she loves. Her deeply personal, moving stories unveil the magic of the world around us―rendering the ordinary extraordinary through a jazzed-up song-and-dance routine. Ayuyang showcases the way her love of musicals became a form of therapeutic distraction to circumnavigate a childhood of dealing with cultural differences, her struggles with postpartum depression, and an adulthood overshadowed by an increasingly frightening and depressing political climate.
Blame This on the Boogie is Ayuyang’s ode to the melody of the world, and shows how tuning out of life and into the magic of Hollywood can actually help an outsider find her place in it.
200 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2018
8 people are currently reading
234 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
November 18, 2020
3.75 stars
In some ways this graphic memoir worked for me, in other ways it didn't. I loved the colorful and messy art; there's a frenetic energy to it that makes you want to devour the pages. And though I am not Filipina, I related a lot to the author's feelings about school and assimilation.
The first half of the book is about Ayuyang's childhood, and the second half flashforwards to her adult life and how she handles motherhood/"having it all." I wish there was a smoother transition, because I was confused at some parts. The dancing with the stars focus was nice at first but ultimately dragged; I'm not a fan of the show so this probably will interest other people more than me.
The ending was very cute!
Content warning: bullying/racism (the slur c**** is used), brief depiction of someone vomiting
In some ways this graphic memoir worked for me, in other ways it didn't. I loved the colorful and messy art; there's a frenetic energy to it that makes you want to devour the pages. And though I am not Filipina, I related a lot to the author's feelings about school and assimilation.
The first half of the book is about Ayuyang's childhood, and the second half flashforwards to her adult life and how she handles motherhood/"having it all." I wish there was a smoother transition, because I was confused at some parts. The dancing with the stars focus was nice at first but ultimately dragged; I'm not a fan of the show so this probably will interest other people more than me.
The ending was very cute!
Content warning: bullying/racism (the slur c**** is used), brief depiction of someone vomiting
December 4, 2018
The rare non-one-star DNF. The first third of Blame This on the Boogie is a very basic memoir of growing up in Pittsburgh, loving music, and being Filipino-American. The lack of emphasis on the last portion is disappointing. Instead, we get a wild jumble of color and text that's very difficult to follow even though it's basically a succession of "and then, and then, and then" events. That said, that first third is entertaining enough.
Then the weirdness starts. Rina Ayuyang delves into her love of Pittsburgh football and Dancing with the Stars to such an extreme degree that I had to put the book down. Pages and pages of mostly text consume the latter two-thirds of the book, almost all of which are devoted to Hines Ward. It's deeply weird, not at all interesting, and should be avoided at all costs. Fortunately, the reasonably fine first third of Blame This on the Boogie concludes with a big "The End" statement, so you know where to close the book.
Then the weirdness starts. Rina Ayuyang delves into her love of Pittsburgh football and Dancing with the Stars to such an extreme degree that I had to put the book down. Pages and pages of mostly text consume the latter two-thirds of the book, almost all of which are devoted to Hines Ward. It's deeply weird, not at all interesting, and should be avoided at all costs. Fortunately, the reasonably fine first third of Blame This on the Boogie concludes with a big "The End" statement, so you know where to close the book.
January 5, 2019
Rina Ayuyang tells stories from her life in a bright, energetic style. The first half of the book is the strongest portion, a traditional memoir, telling how she and her siblings, the children of Filipino immigrants, assimilated into a Pittsburgh suburb through a love of pop culture. There is not a lot of drama as Ayuyang delivers a light and breezy portrait of life in the '70s and '80s.
The second half of the book has shorter selections about motherhood and the author's obsession with "Dancing with the Stars." The DWTS material was much less interesting to me, as I've never watched the show, and in these sections the artwork sometimes crossed the line from kinetic to frenetic.
The second half of the book has shorter selections about motherhood and the author's obsession with "Dancing with the Stars." The DWTS material was much less interesting to me, as I've never watched the show, and in these sections the artwork sometimes crossed the line from kinetic to frenetic.
November 30, 2019
Pretty incoherent. I was trying to hang with her as she skipped from childhood to motherhood, but such a huge part of the book is devoted to watching Dancing With the Stars, and I either couldn't understand or make the leap. I loved the artwork, though. Like a comics spin on beautiful folk art.
January 27, 2022
The first half was extremely fluid and interesting, with well-drawn dance movements, but the second half turns into nonsensical chaos -- Rina, the main character (and writer) is suddenly pregnant and has her baby with a random white father they don't introduce or talk about even after her little family appears. This feels especially out of place since she has extensive family who she has dropped small notes about each person throughout the book up until this point.
The second half there are non-dancing sports events she gets into detail with, but after that it makes little sense what kind of story she's trying to impart when it clearly began with a love of dance in her life, which is reflected in the title as well.
The second half there are non-dancing sports events she gets into detail with, but after that it makes little sense what kind of story she's trying to impart when it clearly began with a love of dance in her life, which is reflected in the title as well.
October 17, 2018
I didn’t expect to love this as much as I did, but once I started reading it, I couldn’t stop. I loved her enthusiasm and honesty, and the art was full of life.
December 14, 2021
A lovely memoir of growing up Filipino American on the east coast in the 1980's. Dance is a huge part of this woman's story and her love of it makes the book.
September 18, 2018
Got a copy of Blame This on the Boogie at the Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend and met the author at D&Q's booth.
First of all, the colors, the vibrant and chaotic scenes, the dancing, oh, the dancing... A lot of fun to read and savor, with many details tucked away in corners, fantastic dance and football (yep!) sequences.
The plot seemed uneven. Not sure how to describe it accurately, but one of the things that didn't work that well was the motherhood thing. Rina has a baby. She is into comics, she's drawing, she's working, she's publishing, and she's a mother, but we don't really see too much of this. What we see is a meltdown five years later. We're then told that in the first five years of her child's life, she had difficulty accepting being a mother, etc. So we're told this after the fact, it seems. We don't really see Rina struggle with being a mother, have doubts, rebel. There seems to be a disconnect. Similarly, though not as drastic a disconnect, Rina struggles through school, it seems, partly due to being Filipina, partly due to speech irregularities, and partly due to bullying. We see snippets of these things, but mostly we're just told she hates school and she loves summer because there is no school, but we see very little of why and how she actually hates school (In the book, Rina even says she will not even draw anything about high school because it was horrible.)
On the other hand, we get a quite detailed picture of her social-media-fueled Dancing with the Stars addiction! This part of the story is hilarious, especially because Rina is so not into it in the beginning. She is then taken in by a couple and just gets sucked into the Facebook-Twitter world of their competition.
In a way, Rina is a master of escapism, and true to her mastery, the story avoids some of the more troublesome issues and times, and indulges the escapist, dizzyingly danceful musings and episodes.
Recommended for those who love to dance, spend hours on FB, and feel guilty about choosing sleep over work.
First of all, the colors, the vibrant and chaotic scenes, the dancing, oh, the dancing... A lot of fun to read and savor, with many details tucked away in corners, fantastic dance and football (yep!) sequences.
The plot seemed uneven. Not sure how to describe it accurately, but one of the things that didn't work that well was the motherhood thing. Rina has a baby. She is into comics, she's drawing, she's working, she's publishing, and she's a mother, but we don't really see too much of this. What we see is a meltdown five years later. We're then told that in the first five years of her child's life, she had difficulty accepting being a mother, etc. So we're told this after the fact, it seems. We don't really see Rina struggle with being a mother, have doubts, rebel. There seems to be a disconnect. Similarly, though not as drastic a disconnect, Rina struggles through school, it seems, partly due to being Filipina, partly due to speech irregularities, and partly due to bullying. We see snippets of these things, but mostly we're just told she hates school and she loves summer because there is no school, but we see very little of why and how she actually hates school (In the book, Rina even says she will not even draw anything about high school because it was horrible.)
On the other hand, we get a quite detailed picture of her social-media-fueled Dancing with the Stars addiction! This part of the story is hilarious, especially because Rina is so not into it in the beginning. She is then taken in by a couple and just gets sucked into the Facebook-Twitter world of their competition.
In a way, Rina is a master of escapism, and true to her mastery, the story avoids some of the more troublesome issues and times, and indulges the escapist, dizzyingly danceful musings and episodes.
Recommended for those who love to dance, spend hours on FB, and feel guilty about choosing sleep over work.
February 19, 2019
this was sort of a mixed bag for me. I LOVED the first half. Ayuyang does such a great job of capturing how music shaped her early life and the cultural references are spot-on. The second half felt more like a collection of web comics than a continuous narrative. While I appreciated the focus on parenting, home life, and maintaining one's own interests after having kids, that didn't seem to fit in with the overarching narrative (or, at least how it was marketed). The artwork is fabulous, really capturing a frenetic, almost manic energy, with bright colors and rapid-fire dialogue and movement. Despite the lack of cohesion, this is fun and energetic, and definitely worth the read for at least the first half.
April 25, 2021
I really, REALLY wanted to like this. I did. But it felt so jumpy. I kept thinking I’d missed pages because it would jump around so much and it would feel like whiplash at certain points. I felt like there were gaps that I needed to have filled in for certain things to make sense. I love all of the theatre and movie and dancing and music references though. Just wish it would have been more cohesive.
November 4, 2024
Hmmmm… not really sure what to say. I picked this book out of a free little library yesterday and thought it would be a fun little read on this cold evening. That being said I had no expectations or preconceived notions about it. Also, never picked up a graphic novel in my adult life before so I thought one that stated it would be about a woman’s experience throughout life with the Hollywood musical would be a good place to start.
At some points, this worked and at others it was just too chaotic for me. There’s a point in the biography where Ayuyang starts to talk about her hyperfixation with a particular season of Dancing With The Stars and how she got into the show and it’s lore as a result. She bares all in the weeds of this obsession and then it just dissipates. Im not sure… I mean I like the energy of it but at some points my eyes were accosted from the color leaping off the page and all of the text jammed into certain sections of the page. There was also no real catharsis at the end, so the frenetic energy couldn’t go anywhere. I might put it back into the Free Little Library system instead of keeping for my own.
At some points, this worked and at others it was just too chaotic for me. There’s a point in the biography where Ayuyang starts to talk about her hyperfixation with a particular season of Dancing With The Stars and how she got into the show and it’s lore as a result. She bares all in the weeds of this obsession and then it just dissipates. Im not sure… I mean I like the energy of it but at some points my eyes were accosted from the color leaping off the page and all of the text jammed into certain sections of the page. There was also no real catharsis at the end, so the frenetic energy couldn’t go anywhere. I might put it back into the Free Little Library system instead of keeping for my own.
September 30, 2023
3.5 stars at least!!
This was a touching auto biographical story, all told through these vibrant and warm free form comics with no panels, with all the speech bubbles and people and places bumping into each other and getting mixed up. I’ve got to wonder how many coloured pencils she went through when illustrating this?
I already like this way more than other examples of this genre- I don’t want to read anymore traumatizing autobiographies written by white middle aged men. I want autobiographies from literally anyone else. And Ayuyang does that beautifully- it’s a little all over the place and confusing at times (which was my main issue with it) but it feels very genuine and close to her heart, which, of course, means that I liked it a lot. Adored her interlude into the dancing with the stars phase, and domestic life with her family, and her struggle with motherhood and career. I think she’d be a really cool person to sit down with for tea and a chat.
Also I finished my reading goal! This is me officially flexing on all my goodreads friends. I am your god. Kiss my ass
Taylor out
This was a touching auto biographical story, all told through these vibrant and warm free form comics with no panels, with all the speech bubbles and people and places bumping into each other and getting mixed up. I’ve got to wonder how many coloured pencils she went through when illustrating this?
I already like this way more than other examples of this genre- I don’t want to read anymore traumatizing autobiographies written by white middle aged men. I want autobiographies from literally anyone else. And Ayuyang does that beautifully- it’s a little all over the place and confusing at times (which was my main issue with it) but it feels very genuine and close to her heart, which, of course, means that I liked it a lot. Adored her interlude into the dancing with the stars phase, and domestic life with her family, and her struggle with motherhood and career. I think she’d be a really cool person to sit down with for tea and a chat.
Also I finished my reading goal! This is me officially flexing on all my goodreads friends. I am your god. Kiss my ass
Taylor out
December 16, 2018
3.5 stars. First let me say that I love, love, love Rina's artwork so much -- it's so vivid and exuberant, and really captures movement in such a fresh, original way. I love the scenes of her and her family dancing -- the last story in the book was so great in so many ways.
However I found that the book was lacking a narrative that tied together some intriguing stories -- we get bits of Rina's childhood and bits of her life as a working mother, but they're never fully tied together, and deeper emotions and impacts of these episodes are only hinted at, not fully fleshed out. There are also some stories that I could have done without -- the extended essay on Hines Ward and Dancing With the Stars was superficial and frankly, just boring to me.
However I think this book is worth reading for the quality of the art alone. I'll be keeping an eye on her to see what she comes up with next!
However I found that the book was lacking a narrative that tied together some intriguing stories -- we get bits of Rina's childhood and bits of her life as a working mother, but they're never fully tied together, and deeper emotions and impacts of these episodes are only hinted at, not fully fleshed out. There are also some stories that I could have done without -- the extended essay on Hines Ward and Dancing With the Stars was superficial and frankly, just boring to me.
However I think this book is worth reading for the quality of the art alone. I'll be keeping an eye on her to see what she comes up with next!
February 15, 2020
This was a memoir of the author's life as it pertains to her family and her desire to be a successful comic author. All of it is viewed through the beats and rhythms of the music and dance that influences her life at different stages. It was a very colorful and entertaining read that makes me want to read more of the author's works. Only the Dancing With the Stars section dragged the story down with its length. Her honesty and rawness are what make that part worth wading through. Interesting short read.
April 8, 2020
I'll start off by saying this was not one of my personal favorites, but I do understand it's appeal. It's the author's life told in this colorful, small vignettes told over the course of most of her life. Her art style is bold and colorful and loose, but it can also be quite crowded and overwhelming at times. I also didn't resonate with most of the stories she told. She wrote a lot about her love of football and Dancing with the Stars, two things I'm not terribly interested in. Overall, it just wasn't the pacing and art style that I enjoy, but it also wasn't a displeasure to read.
May 20, 2019
Those three stars go to the first half of the book. I loved the color, Ayuyang's experiences growing up as a Filipina in Pittsburgh, and how music informed it. But the second half? It was like an entirely different book. I am maybe not the audience to care about an obsession with Dancing with the Stars or motherhood, but I would have felt a little less prompted to skim if there was any real connection to the first half of the book.
February 4, 2021
A beautiful and funny memoirish graphic novel. I was entertained reading all these slices of the author's life that indicated who she'd become as a whole in latter parts. I found myself taking photos of some of the pages so I could retain and return to the illustrations, especially the dancing scenes. The drawings really provided a sense of place -- I recognized my Oakland and felt like I knew Pittsburgh, even though I've never been there.
August 5, 2021
Graphic memoir. Interesting story, but I had some issues with the formatting...too much going on on each page really messed with how my brain works with organization. It made it a little hard to follow. Half of the book was the narrator's childhood, and then there was an abrupt shift to her being a mother and having this obsession with Dancing with the Stars. The theme was solid though... follow your dreams, and be willing to budge with how that is realized.
November 6, 2018
Very early on in the book, the narrator shows us her house and lets us know that it's a mess.
This book is a loud, busy mess. The art is too crowded on the page. I think it would be completely incomprehensible for people who don't read comics and graphic novels on a regular basis.
The art was so crowded that I just couldn't be bothered to keep reading the story.
This book is a loud, busy mess. The art is too crowded on the page. I think it would be completely incomprehensible for people who don't read comics and graphic novels on a regular basis.
The art was so crowded that I just couldn't be bothered to keep reading the story.
December 28, 2018
I found this graphic novel extremely difficult to enjoy. It is far too busy in the drawing style and the dialogue makes it worse. Too often you do not even know what dialogue is meant to follow another as it is all terribly chaotic. Actually that would be the word for this entire graphic novel: chaotic. I found it difficult to care about the story as well but the style ruined it completely.
January 17, 2022
I liked the voice the author had so much - it was captivating and conversational, not to mention so honest when the drawings could fill in the blanks for things that couldn't been explained in words. Still, I kind of lost structure of the book halfway through and found it hard to follow... it was still impossible not to smile when she was describing a fun moment of family and/or dance.
December 4, 2018
Eh. I liked the beginning and was really interested from childhood to giving birth and then...wtf happened? It jumped all over and made absolutely no sense and became a fan fic book that was too jumbled.
February 15, 2019
The first part I got. It is tough to follow because there doesn’t seem to be order but I got it. The second part, and especially the last third were extremely confusing. Seemed like an explosion of thought without structure. It just isn’t for me.
March 22, 2020
Nothing makes me feel like I'm truly alive like dancing (and bike riding) and I got that same joyful, so-very-alive feeling from reading this book. I just wanted to jump into the pages and dance with Rina and her family all day long.
March 15, 2021
What a strange yet enjoyable story this was. The drawing was interesting and the colour was a bit of a fun and lively explosion. This has a peculiar structure and it could probably have been better edited, but I still enjoyed its quirkiness. A flawed but worthwhile read.
November 7, 2021
I was first put off by the messy, crowded art and then I was put even more off by the story. I actually thought the first bit about the author's childhood was mildly intriguing. Had the rest been like that it would have been three stars. But then came Dancing With the Stars and it was all over.
January 26, 2022
Fantastic graphic memoir from Ayuyang looking at her life from early childhood and detailing how her life was influenced through music and dance through to her own progress into adulthood, marriage and motherhood with quirky, charming art and a humorous style of her own.
May 30, 2023
Rina Ayuyang writes and illustrates her memoir as a weird kid who loves musicals. It is funny and cute, and I think speaks to anyone who has felt like they didn’t fit it.
I love thé relationships between her siblings, and how they all ended up moving back in with each other as adults.
I love thé relationships between her siblings, and how they all ended up moving back in with each other as adults.
February 2, 2024
The content of this graphic novel didn't hold my attention as it focused a lot on Dancing with the Stars and Steelers football. However, I can appreciate the author drawing and writing about what interests HER. I did relate to her dancing fantasies.
May 31, 2018
This book is beyond charming, and Rina is a very underrated artist. Loved this, get this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews