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Autriche, 1990. Ulli Lust a vingt-deux ans et vit désormais à Vienne, où elle tente de faire carrière comme illustratrice tout en alternant petits boulots et aide sociale. Elle revient tous les week-ends chez ses parents, dans la campagne autrichienne, pour passer du temps avec son jeune fils, Philipp, qu’elle a eu à dix-sept ans suite à une rencontre sans lendemain. Ulli vit avec Georg, acteur dans une petite troupe de théâtre, limite dépressif et beaucoup plus âgé qu’elle. Suite à une rencontre dans un parc, elle s’engage dans une relation avec Kim, un jeune Nigérian récemment arrivé en Autriche, et une intense passion charnelle va se nouer entre eux. Mais Ulli tient à continuer sa relation avec Georg, tout en étant avec Kim...
368 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2017
8 people are currently reading
687 people want to read
About the author
Ulli Lust
18 books104 followersUlli Lust was born in 1967 in Vienna, Austria. Her cartooning work has mainly comprised comics reportages; Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life is her first graphic novel, and her first work to be translated into English. She lives and works in Berlin, Germany.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
December 1, 2019
I thought of Hitchcock's assertion that all film is essentially voyeurism as I read this book. Think of the opening of Psycho--a series of shots honing in on a hotel room window where two people dress after having sex. We go in there! How intrusive, how bad, how fun! In 2013, Fantagraphics published the English translation of Austrian cartoonist Ulli Lust’s graphic memoir, Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, a huge, nearly 500-page tale of her late teen punk years, where in 1984 she went on the road with a friend after a punk concert and made mistake after mistake, many of them sexual ones, almost leading to the ultimate disaster. My review of that international-award-winning book was perfunctory, curt; I didn't think she could say she learned much about the experience, really, and I thought at the time it was almost a glib, sensationalistic story. I might be wrong, not sure.
I might reread it, though, as this 2019 release of the English translation by Fantragraphics of this second memoir, published originally in 2017, features yet another series of screw-ups that also nearly get her killed, and I liked it. It begins, as Hitchcock suggests, with Lust opening the shades so we can see voyeuristically into her polyamorous life. She was for a time living with Georg, an actor whom she loved and had a strong artistic and intellectual relationship with, but had an unsatisfying sexual relationship with. They agree to stay together and see other people; Lust almost immediately meets Kimata, newly in-country from Nigeria, and they also fall in love, though with more sexual compatibility (and electricity).
Georg is okay with the relationship as it proceeds, but Kimata gets increasingly jealous, needs citizenship to stay there, and eventually seems to require marriage (that's the title reference, how she tried to be a good person). As you may have assumed, things don't ultimately go well, after a seemingly blissful (that is, hot) several months of her being with each of them (well, it's hot with one of them, at least). As with her earlier book, the wild Lust's lust seems to turn from passionate heat to fevered illness to health crisis. Both books could almost be shared with young people as cautionary tales: Here's what NOT to do with your body, kids!
Now why do I like this one better than the first one? Both are great train wreck stories, and it may just be that I am getting to know (and like) her as I. learn more about her, but this book (only little bit shorter, at just under 400-pages) is a better accomplished tale. I like her cartooning, I like her honesty, I like her better. She (re)creates interesting characters. She's certainly not wholly admirable, but she's a basically good and fun and openly sexual person living life according to her own rules, and she is never boring. Okay, okay, maybe it is finally a bit of voyeurism that keeps me in it, as it is pretty "graphic" sexual comix, but I recommend you check it out. Reminds me just a bit of Mimi Pond's tales of her own wild party years, in the seventies, in The Customer is Always Wrong and Over Easy, or Jade Sarson's For the Love of God, Marie! Women that like to have sex and are not ashamed to admit it.
I might reread it, though, as this 2019 release of the English translation by Fantragraphics of this second memoir, published originally in 2017, features yet another series of screw-ups that also nearly get her killed, and I liked it. It begins, as Hitchcock suggests, with Lust opening the shades so we can see voyeuristically into her polyamorous life. She was for a time living with Georg, an actor whom she loved and had a strong artistic and intellectual relationship with, but had an unsatisfying sexual relationship with. They agree to stay together and see other people; Lust almost immediately meets Kimata, newly in-country from Nigeria, and they also fall in love, though with more sexual compatibility (and electricity).
Georg is okay with the relationship as it proceeds, but Kimata gets increasingly jealous, needs citizenship to stay there, and eventually seems to require marriage (that's the title reference, how she tried to be a good person). As you may have assumed, things don't ultimately go well, after a seemingly blissful (that is, hot) several months of her being with each of them (well, it's hot with one of them, at least). As with her earlier book, the wild Lust's lust seems to turn from passionate heat to fevered illness to health crisis. Both books could almost be shared with young people as cautionary tales: Here's what NOT to do with your body, kids!
Now why do I like this one better than the first one? Both are great train wreck stories, and it may just be that I am getting to know (and like) her as I. learn more about her, but this book (only little bit shorter, at just under 400-pages) is a better accomplished tale. I like her cartooning, I like her honesty, I like her better. She (re)creates interesting characters. She's certainly not wholly admirable, but she's a basically good and fun and openly sexual person living life according to her own rules, and she is never boring. Okay, okay, maybe it is finally a bit of voyeurism that keeps me in it, as it is pretty "graphic" sexual comix, but I recommend you check it out. Reminds me just a bit of Mimi Pond's tales of her own wild party years, in the seventies, in The Customer is Always Wrong and Over Easy, or Jade Sarson's For the Love of God, Marie! Women that like to have sex and are not ashamed to admit it.
August 2, 2025
I don't read many graphic novels, but this was a nice change. It was a really great, honest look at various things like race, domestic violence, family, culture clash, human rights.
It was nice to see a womans sexuality and libido expressed this way as normal and healthy and active instead of the usual peripheral and cursory way.
I love the way she has a strong moral character and seeing the choices and struggle on the page in a way that would usually be portrayed as weak and indecisive. This is why women should write.
The part with the child living away from her was very sad. Ten years elapsed in the blink of an eye while she allegedly was trying to get settled but she seemed more interested in bad relationships than her kid.
But at the same time, it makes you think about these social attitudes surrounding sex, pregnancy and motherhood- just because that aspect of biology happens to women, does that mean the woman should be or should want to be a mother and make all the sacrifices society believes she should? It's a hard situation.
The book gives lots of food for thought with very nice illustrations.
It was nice to see a womans sexuality and libido expressed this way as normal and healthy and active instead of the usual peripheral and cursory way.
I love the way she has a strong moral character and seeing the choices and struggle on the page in a way that would usually be portrayed as weak and indecisive. This is why women should write.
The part with the child living away from her was very sad. Ten years elapsed in the blink of an eye while she allegedly was trying to get settled but she seemed more interested in bad relationships than her kid.
But at the same time, it makes you think about these social attitudes surrounding sex, pregnancy and motherhood- just because that aspect of biology happens to women, does that mean the woman should be or should want to be a mother and make all the sacrifices society believes she should? It's a hard situation.
The book gives lots of food for thought with very nice illustrations.
July 2, 2019
“Como traté de ser una buena persona” cuenta la historia autobiográfica de una aspirante artista gráfica austriaca de veintitantos años que (tras los excesos de una primera juventud anarquista, desordenada y cercana a las adicciones) trata de asentarse en el mundo y en su profesión.
Cuando crees que este cómic es solo otra de esas historias de artistas underground que cuentan su experiencia artística en forma de historieta el libro cambia de rumbo y se convierte en una narración sobre las parejas abiertas, la maternidad no vocacional, la sexualidad femenina, el racismo, las políticas migratorias, el maltrato machista y la supervivencia de los artistas vocacionales. Una auténtica sorpresa.
La autora Ulli Lust muestra una generosidad inusitada no ahorrándose detalles escabrosos, íntimos y poco habituales en la narrativa. Sus dibujos y sus diálogos producen en el lector un placer solo comparable al del voyeur que ve las bambalinas de una fascinante vida ajena.
Cuando crees que este cómic es solo otra de esas historias de artistas underground que cuentan su experiencia artística en forma de historieta el libro cambia de rumbo y se convierte en una narración sobre las parejas abiertas, la maternidad no vocacional, la sexualidad femenina, el racismo, las políticas migratorias, el maltrato machista y la supervivencia de los artistas vocacionales. Una auténtica sorpresa.
La autora Ulli Lust muestra una generosidad inusitada no ahorrándose detalles escabrosos, íntimos y poco habituales en la narrativa. Sus dibujos y sus diálogos producen en el lector un placer solo comparable al del voyeur que ve las bambalinas de una fascinante vida ajena.
October 31, 2019
One of those graphic memoirs where I find the author's life choices completely alien. As the book starts, Lust is around 20 and living in Vienna as her Her parents raise her young son from a previous, um, relationship in the country. She is considering a green card marriage with a Kurdish immigrant and dating a man almost twice her age named Georg. Ulli and Georg decide to have an open relationship, and Ulli begins seeing a Nigerian immigrant named Kimata. In addition to being polyamorous, Ulli is sex positive, and there are a lot of very graphic sex scenes.
And despite all that going on, the book is rather dull and meandering in the first half.
Around the midpoint, one of the relationships takes a turn for the worse and the domestic violence gives the book focus and momentum, even as her choices remain alien to me.
And despite all that going on, the book is rather dull and meandering in the first half.
Around the midpoint, one of the relationships takes a turn for the worse and the domestic violence gives the book focus and momentum, even as her choices remain alien to me.
August 18, 2018
Auch wenn ich die Handlungen von Ulli nicht immer nachvollziehen konnte und sie mich gen Ende mit ihrer Wankelmütigkeit und Naivität ein wenig zu nerven begann, verschlang ich ihre Geschichte. Sie wirkt ehrlich, weil sie menschliche Schwächen zeigt und keine fiktiven Helden. Die graphische Ausgestaltung war zudem ansprechend, bewegt und ihre Erotika, die gute zwei Drittel der Seiten beansprucht, wirkte selbst in den intimsten und verwegenen Momenten ästhetisch.
December 4, 2017
(read in French)
I was excited to read this after having read and loved another one of her other autobiographical graphic novels, "Too much is not enough". However, I was disappointed. While she paints a painfully accurate portrait of an abusive relationship, I found the novel to be slow-moving and masturbatory, lacking that spark of genius that turns a mundane diary into a work of art.
I was excited to read this after having read and loved another one of her other autobiographical graphic novels, "Too much is not enough". However, I was disappointed. While she paints a painfully accurate portrait of an abusive relationship, I found the novel to be slow-moving and masturbatory, lacking that spark of genius that turns a mundane diary into a work of art.
August 5, 2020
Recently, I allowed myself a graphic novel reading spree. A graphic novel is something I usually save for a rainy day to allow myself to dip into. It's a decadent pleasure that I afford in reading lulls but this week has been different. I have read one after another telling myself I will stop when I find the one that stops me in my tracks.
This is it.
I am BLOWN away by Ulli Lust. Bold, vulnerable, and passionate, hers is a uniquely independent voice. A woman in charge of her body and her mind so completely that one is surprised to find it refreshing. Her story takes place in Vienna in the late 80s and early 90s. All drugs, sex, and rock and roll. But also, deeply fatiguing time of self-realisation, polyamory, distant parenting, sexual intensities - a real coming to terms with oneself, be it failure or fame.
It can be simple enough to tack on the usual labels to this book but it goes beyond the story presented. It begs questions and then answeres them. Some parts are so brutal, you wince. The honesty is refreshing but hurtful. The sex is pornographic but ridiculously real. Still, like a drug you cannot look away. You do not want to leave Ulli's side.
The images I have devoured will not leave me so soon. For now, I will put away the other graphic novels and return to the solid quietude of a pictureless book. Devoid of spectacular colour, liquid fascination, and sheer electricity. Devoid of Ulli. Because there is something as too much of a good thing.
This is it.
I am BLOWN away by Ulli Lust. Bold, vulnerable, and passionate, hers is a uniquely independent voice. A woman in charge of her body and her mind so completely that one is surprised to find it refreshing. Her story takes place in Vienna in the late 80s and early 90s. All drugs, sex, and rock and roll. But also, deeply fatiguing time of self-realisation, polyamory, distant parenting, sexual intensities - a real coming to terms with oneself, be it failure or fame.
It can be simple enough to tack on the usual labels to this book but it goes beyond the story presented. It begs questions and then answeres them. Some parts are so brutal, you wince. The honesty is refreshing but hurtful. The sex is pornographic but ridiculously real. Still, like a drug you cannot look away. You do not want to leave Ulli's side.
The images I have devoured will not leave me so soon. For now, I will put away the other graphic novels and return to the solid quietude of a pictureless book. Devoid of spectacular colour, liquid fascination, and sheer electricity. Devoid of Ulli. Because there is something as too much of a good thing.
January 4, 2018
Ulli Lusts Graphic Novel ist von einer Ehrlichkeit und Intensität, wie ich es selten woanders gelesen habe. Mit viel Liebe zum Detail erzählt sie in "Wie ich versuchte, ein guter Mensch zu sein" von dem Versuch eine Dreierbeziehung erfolgreich zu Leben und wie die Umstände leider doch verhindert haben, dass die utopische Idee zur dauerhaften Realität wurde.
Ihre Zeichnungen, die zum Teil sehr explizit ausfallen (eher NSFW) bringen Gefühlszustände wunderbar auf den Punkt und ich fand es sehr schön so viele Plätze in Wien wiederzuerkennen. Sogar mein Lieblingscafé, das Jelinek, hat einen Auftritt.
Ihre Zeichnungen, die zum Teil sehr explizit ausfallen (eher NSFW) bringen Gefühlszustände wunderbar auf den Punkt und ich fand es sehr schön so viele Plätze in Wien wiederzuerkennen. Sogar mein Lieblingscafé, das Jelinek, hat einen Auftritt.
February 12, 2022
DNF because wow this book is racist in a perplexing way. Also: this does include spoilers because I need to let anyone interested see the racism before engaging.
Uli Lust is in love with a Nigerian man, Kim, and she is in a polyamorous relationship with two male partners. She frequently draws Kim with monkey-like features when Kim is expressing intense feelings. Kim is drawn in a shade that mimics old racist cartoons. I thought this book was written in 1960 and Uli Lust was just ignorant... then I noticed the date of publication and I truly don't understand how this book got published.
Uli Lust is in love with a Nigerian man, Kim, and she is in a polyamorous relationship with two male partners. She frequently draws Kim with monkey-like features when Kim is expressing intense feelings. Kim is drawn in a shade that mimics old racist cartoons. I thought this book was written in 1960 and Uli Lust was just ignorant... then I noticed the date of publication and I truly don't understand how this book got published.
January 23, 2020
I haven't read Ulli Lust's first book, but I'll definitely have to track down a copy. How I Tried To Be A Good Person is an unflinching look at Lust navigating an open relationship in which she seeks emotional fulfillment from one partner and sexual fulfillment from others, most notably with a possessive, jealous and sometimes violent Nigerian man. She also tries to work through feelings of inadequacy as both an artist and a mother.
August 26, 2019
Ugh. Not my cup of tea, and so depressing!
September 7, 2019
Qué manera de narrar, he empatizado enseguida con todos los personajes, me gustaran o no. Genial autora e ilsutradora
February 14, 2020
Auf diese Erfahrung war ich nicht vorbereitet! Ich habe mich für Ulli Lust aufgrund einer Rezension entschieden (danke, Hanna!), ohne sich vorher mit dem Inhalt des Buches auseinanderzusetzen. Eins muss man Ulli lassen- sie kann einen richtig überraschen. Ich hätte nie erwartet mit so einer ehrlichen, beunruhigend faszinierten Biografie konfrontiert zu sein. Wahrscheinlich auch deswegen hatte ich so gemischte Gefühle während des Lesens. Ich hätte einfach nie damit berechnet, dass sich eine Autorin (mit doppelter Betonung auf „-in“) ihren Lesern so öffnen kann. Das zeigt auch, warum dieses Buch so spannend und letzendes auch wichtig ist. Wir leben immer noch in einer Zeit, wo es für das Publikum schockierend ist, mit der Sexualität oder dem allgemeinen Abweichen von „traditionell weiblich zu sein“, konfrontiert zu sein. Ich lese gerne, aber ich bin es immer noch nicht gewöhnt über Frauen zu lesen, die ohne Scham zugeben, mit der Rolle der Mutter oder der „beziehungsorientierten Partnerin“ nicht zurecht kommen. Ulli ist anders. Sie gibt zu, keine besonders gute Mutter und eigentlich auch Tochter zu sein. Sie gibt zu, dass sie Sex mag und zum Leben braucht. Sie gibt auch zu, dass sie in keiner klassischen monogamischen Beziehung leben will. Sie ist eine starke und dennoch nicht unbedingt selbstbewusste Frau, die viele falschen Entscheidungen trifft. Und sie steht dazu.
Ich konnte mich mit Ulli und ihren Entscheidungen gar nicht identifizieren, aber das war ok so. Ich musste sie für ihre Ehrlichkeit und Selbstreflektion tiefst bewundern.
Die vier Sterne, die ich diesem Buch vergebe, reflektieren daher nicht den Inhalt, sondern die grafische Ausführung. Vor allem in der ersten Hälfte waren mir die Übergänge zwischen den einzelnen Kapiteln/Szenen einfach zu fließend. Ab und zu musste ich sogar zurückblättern um mich zu vergewissern, wo ich mich gerade befinde. Das ist allerdings auch das einzige, was mich störte.
Ich habe dieses Buch verschluckt und würde es jedem weiterempfehlen.
Ich konnte mich mit Ulli und ihren Entscheidungen gar nicht identifizieren, aber das war ok so. Ich musste sie für ihre Ehrlichkeit und Selbstreflektion tiefst bewundern.
Die vier Sterne, die ich diesem Buch vergebe, reflektieren daher nicht den Inhalt, sondern die grafische Ausführung. Vor allem in der ersten Hälfte waren mir die Übergänge zwischen den einzelnen Kapiteln/Szenen einfach zu fließend. Ab und zu musste ich sogar zurückblättern um mich zu vergewissern, wo ich mich gerade befinde. Das ist allerdings auch das einzige, was mich störte.
Ich habe dieses Buch verschluckt und würde es jedem weiterempfehlen.
August 9, 2021
"Flughunde" (2013) hatte ich vorher gelesen. Auf der Suche nach einem deutschsprachigen Äquivalent für Alison Bechdel stieß ich auf Lusts "graphic memoirs". Bin jetzt gespannt auf den ersten Teil.
February 17, 2022
veel gebats, interessant einde, maar las wel vlot dankzij haar dynamische tekenstijl
June 14, 2023
Lots of great expressive panels especially when showing sex, mood, and the Vienna nightlife but ultimately the book feels a bit pointless. while there are a bunch of interesting plotlines the main one is between Kim and Ulli. their story runs through a somewhat tedious course of sex->jealous->guilt that repeats until Kim gets violent.
polyamorous people what are you doing
polyamorous people what are you doing
October 27, 2019
Ulli Lust has certainly led a fascinating, enraging life. There are few moments in this book or its predecessor, Today is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, where I wasn't simultaneously enthralled with her exploits and blown away that she didn't see the poor choices she was making. The naivete on display unbelievable!
But, I mean, we were all young once, we all made mistakes. Lust just made a lot more mistakes and bigger ones. So be it - it makes for wildly engaging reading. Unlike the "watching a train wreck" nature of its predecessor, How I Tried to Be a Good Person is more of a "watching a car crash" read. There's no rape (although some domestic violence) and less drug use (still plenty). Her now-five-year-old son is still abandoned in the countryside with her parents.
For the most part, though, Lust's poor decisions result in expected consequences, nothing truly outrageous. To summarize the plot: Lust tries to love two men at once and fails. Numerous graphically illustrated sex scenes ensue. You also learn quite a bit about the status of African immigrant men in Europe (easily the worthiest part of the book).
How I Tried to Be a Good Person filled me with weird feelings of dislike and confusion and interest. I also couldn't put it down. So, probably a pretty good read if you want a stomachache.
But, I mean, we were all young once, we all made mistakes. Lust just made a lot more mistakes and bigger ones. So be it - it makes for wildly engaging reading. Unlike the "watching a train wreck" nature of its predecessor, How I Tried to Be a Good Person is more of a "watching a car crash" read. There's no rape (although some domestic violence) and less drug use (still plenty). Her now-five-year-old son is still abandoned in the countryside with her parents.
For the most part, though, Lust's poor decisions result in expected consequences, nothing truly outrageous. To summarize the plot: Lust tries to love two men at once and fails. Numerous graphically illustrated sex scenes ensue. You also learn quite a bit about the status of African immigrant men in Europe (easily the worthiest part of the book).
How I Tried to Be a Good Person filled me with weird feelings of dislike and confusion and interest. I also couldn't put it down. So, probably a pretty good read if you want a stomachache.
March 2, 2019
I grabbed this graphic novel on a whim at the library and I enjoyed it. The story depicts a lot of graphic sex and an abusive relationship though so if those things are your nemesis, maybe this isn't for you.
I was surprised how quickly I got through the entire thing because once I held it in my hands it seemed longer than it actually was. Ulli is in a relationship with two men and for a while it's everything she wanted it to be, great sex with one, great everything else with the other dude until life does what life does and becomes complicated.
The story felt honest, I mean, it's autobiographical so it would be weird if it wasn't. And since it's about a time in the 80s and/or 90s, Vienna feels different and not so different at all. Reminders of a time before the Euro are odd in a way I cannot fully explain. Probably just because they're not reflective of my own experiences there. And then there is Austria's relationship to foreigners and it feels like nothing has changed much in the last couple of decades. (Not that Germany is so much better at it.)
All in all, this was my first work by the author and I enjoyed it.
I was surprised how quickly I got through the entire thing because once I held it in my hands it seemed longer than it actually was. Ulli is in a relationship with two men and for a while it's everything she wanted it to be, great sex with one, great everything else with the other dude until life does what life does and becomes complicated.
The story felt honest, I mean, it's autobiographical so it would be weird if it wasn't. And since it's about a time in the 80s and/or 90s, Vienna feels different and not so different at all. Reminders of a time before the Euro are odd in a way I cannot fully explain. Probably just because they're not reflective of my own experiences there. And then there is Austria's relationship to foreigners and it feels like nothing has changed much in the last couple of decades. (Not that Germany is so much better at it.)
All in all, this was my first work by the author and I enjoyed it.
December 30, 2019
Not sure how I feel about this yet.
December 30, 2021
Did not have much connection or sympathy for any of the characters in this autobiographical comic.
December 9, 2020
Ondanks dat ik het vorige boek van deze schrijfster/illustrator toch niet geweldig vond kon ik het niet laten om dit boek uit te proberen. Tja, het was op punten wel goed hoor, maar op punten vond ik het gewoon teveel. Ze heeft twee mannen in haar leven, een snapt dat, de ander wil constant confirmatie dat ze van hem houdt en is vaak beledigt dat ze hem deelt. Echt, Kim was gewoon onuitstaanbaar. George was zo'n schat en ik vond hem echt heel lief. Maar Kim. Kim mag van mij een portie oprotten naar een ver land. Wat een type en vooral later. Daar wordt hij geweldadig en meer. En sorry, waarom heb je dan sex met hem? Waarom doe je dat op het laatst? Ik snap Ulli niet hoor. Als mijn man mij slaat dan heeft ie best nog een kans, maar als hij het constant doet, en zelfs met doodsbedreigingen en pogingen komt, mag ie van mij worden opgepakt. Doei hé.
Dus het was gewoon allemaal heel apart. En hoewel ik al wat comfortabeler ben met sex scenes geschreven, dit boek had gewoon echt teveel grafische sex scenes voor mij. Close-ups van alles. Nee dank je.
Ik ben wel trots dat Ulli zo ver is gekomen met alles. Op punten twijfelde ik toch wel aan haar.
Dus het was gewoon allemaal heel apart. En hoewel ik al wat comfortabeler ben met sex scenes geschreven, dit boek had gewoon echt teveel grafische sex scenes voor mij. Close-ups van alles. Nee dank je.
Ik ben wel trots dat Ulli zo ver is gekomen met alles. Op punten twijfelde ik toch wel aan haar.
December 28, 2021
The second volume of Lust’s candid - uncomfortably candid in places - graphic memoirs. As with the first book (Today Is The Last Day Of The Rest Of Your Life) she’s revealing but not often reflective - here is my life, my experiences and my choices, the book seems to say, make of them what you will. It’s an approach which has been taken as an invitation to judgement by a lot of readers - I don’t think approving or disapproving of Lust’s priorities or decisions is exactly the point, though, particularly as her narratives refuse neatness. Some of what happens to her in her books is certainly traumatic, but the stories avoid making that trauma the centre of the story, letting the reader assign a weight to it. There’s no faux-naivety here, just a choice to remain faithful to the messiness of life.
February 10, 2020
The first line is “The alley was swept every Saturday,” and I asked myself, is this book German? Close— it’s Austrian.
Knew nothing of Ulli Lust or her work when I picked this up. It’s a interesting graphic memoir of a young artist struggling with being a part time mother, part time worker, part time lover, part time adult. She has a boyfriend and they navigate an open relationship. Lust develops an attachment with Kim, who is from Nigeria, and many of their scenes really put one meaning of “graphic” into graphic memoir.
It’s a complicated tale, as life often is. It feels real, neither burnished or exaggerated. It is always special to encounter stories that feel real.
Knew nothing of Ulli Lust or her work when I picked this up. It’s a interesting graphic memoir of a young artist struggling with being a part time mother, part time worker, part time lover, part time adult. She has a boyfriend and they navigate an open relationship. Lust develops an attachment with Kim, who is from Nigeria, and many of their scenes really put one meaning of “graphic” into graphic memoir.
It’s a complicated tale, as life often is. It feels real, neither burnished or exaggerated. It is always special to encounter stories that feel real.
December 26, 2019
Un relato directo y sin tapujos sobre una etapa de la vida de la autora. Me gusta la naturalidad sin prejuicios con la que trata todos los temas, fruto de explicarlo a partir de la experiencia vivida, sin juicio sobre lo ocurrido. A momentos tierno, en otros muy duro, pero con la simpleza de exponer llanamente unos hechos, sin intentar dramatizar o exagerar o tratar de subrayar una emoción.
La verdad es que me ha puesto la piel de gallina en muchos momentos, por excitación y temor. Un libro genial. Me quedo con ganas de leer más de la autora.
La verdad es que me ha puesto la piel de gallina en muchos momentos, por excitación y temor. Un libro genial. Me quedo con ganas de leer más de la autora.
December 8, 2021
Ulli, I would NOT want to live your life! Sure the sex looks good, I mean the sex looks really really good, but the everything else? The jealousy, the poverty...
This is why I read books! I never want to be Ulli, but for a while I get to live vicariously! It's thrilling (the sex does look good), it's hella scary, and then it's over and I can get back to being middle aged, comfortable and monogamous!
Ulli is a terrific storyteller, honest sometimes to the point of unlikable - her ambivalent attitude to motherhood is refreshing, but you do wonder what her son thinks reading this - her pictures are beautiful and ugly and sexy.
This is why I read books! I never want to be Ulli, but for a while I get to live vicariously! It's thrilling (the sex does look good), it's hella scary, and then it's over and I can get back to being middle aged, comfortable and monogamous!
Ulli is a terrific storyteller, honest sometimes to the point of unlikable - her ambivalent attitude to motherhood is refreshing, but you do wonder what her son thinks reading this - her pictures are beautiful and ugly and sexy.
October 22, 2021
Nicely done. But...I kind of didn't really like the author? Or at least her choices.
September 14, 2024
Ultimately and unfortunately, Ulli was the victim of an abusive relationship, and I don’t really think the title of the book is fitting for everything that occurs. I feel like it leaves me with a sense of “just because something is traumatic, doesn’t necessarily means it makes a good story”, and I feel kind of bad for saying so because it’s a memoir.
I hope Ulli got or gets therapeutic care, and I hope they feel safe today.
I hope Ulli got or gets therapeutic care, and I hope they feel safe today.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2019
An interesting read, although not exactly an enjoyable one. Earnest, sticky sincerity bleeds throughout each drawing and its words, which makes it more palatable, easier to read, easier to see the author as a person, and not a character to be judged.
The story she's telling, it would be easy to pass judgment - but she crafts it in such a way that allows for understanding, instead. It broadened my perspective, added a small ounce to my understanding, granted me an extra feathersworth of patience. I am prone to snap judgments and these gifts are rare and valuable when encountered.
Easily the most NSFW graphic novel I've ever read, if that matters to anyone. Not unnecessarily lewd - nothing, in fact, feels unnecessary in this memoir - but very artistically in your face with the sexytimes. I'd originally started reading this book on public transport and decided that wasn't a great idea.
Content warning - there are depictions of domestic violence in this book that will be triggering/difficult for some readers to go through.
The story she's telling, it would be easy to pass judgment - but she crafts it in such a way that allows for understanding, instead. It broadened my perspective, added a small ounce to my understanding, granted me an extra feathersworth of patience. I am prone to snap judgments and these gifts are rare and valuable when encountered.
Easily the most NSFW graphic novel I've ever read, if that matters to anyone. Not unnecessarily lewd - nothing, in fact, feels unnecessary in this memoir - but very artistically in your face with the sexytimes. I'd originally started reading this book on public transport and decided that wasn't a great idea.
Content warning - there are depictions of domestic violence in this book that will be triggering/difficult for some readers to go through.
November 8, 2021
The storyline is difficult to digest, which may be partly Lust's point. This autobiographical graphic novel details how Lust was in a love triangle in her early twenties, and ended up physically abused by one of the men. It comes after Lust already traveled through Italy and had a son, an aside almost, since the mother never puts her son first. A young woman who flaunts her feminism and freedom becomes entangled with a man who has red flag after red flag, up until he strangles her with her telephone cord. It's a worrisome display of abuse, of continuously forgiving the abuser, not reporting him, getting him out of trouble — even redacting her police report to make it easier for him to not get deported! Another aspect that doesn't sit right is the racist way Lust draws Black people in this graphic novel. They're drawn in a way that makes them disappear, appear animalistic, reduced to smudges or eyes — it's pretty disgusting.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 5, 2024
2013 vann den österrikiska serieskaparen Ulli Lust Urhunden i kategorin Bästa till svenska översatta seriebok med Idag är sista dagen på resten av ditt liv (Kolik förlag) och tio år senare gav Lystring förlag äntligen ut den lika fantastiska fortsättningen Hur jag försökte bli en god människa. Den sistnämnda boken, som gavs ut på tyska 2017, utspelas på 1990-talet och är en omtumlande och mycket naken (både i ordets mentala och inte minst fysiska betydelse) självbiografisk skildring av Ullis liv med två män – den ”perfekta följeslagaren” och den ”perfekta älskaren”. 2023 var utan tvekan Lystring förlag och Fredrik Jonssons år där hans fingertoppskänsla när det gäller kvalitet och utformning gett oss flera fina serieböcker på svenska med Ulli Lusts mästerverk som kronan på verket, samt att han hade den utmärkta smaken att ge översättningsuppdraget till Sara Eriksson, som även översatte Idag är sista dagen på resten av ditt liv.
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