The Whole Enchilada

Sylvia

by Nicole Hollander

This title includes American comic strips featuring the character of Sylvia who gives us her opinions on every known subject from spot slimming to international disarmament. All of this is gleaned through the haze of bath bubbles, cigarette smoke, television and cat hairs that fill Sylvia's life.

Genres: Humor, Comics, Womens, Comix, Cartoon, Comic Strips

Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

I am best known for writing and drawing the syndicated cartoon strip, SYLVIA, which appears daily and weekly in more than 30 newspapers across the country, including The Boston Globe, The Berkeley Daily Planet, Women’s e News Online and The Houston Chronicle (online). Sylvia strips appear on BadGirlChats as well. I am represented by the Tribune Media Services Syndicate.

I continue to write and draw Sylvia at Badgirlchats.com, a blog composed of original writing, comments and reactions to what's in the news.

I am currently teaching college courses at the Art Institute in graphic novel writing as well as storytelling and memoir workshops at Lillstreet Art Center in Chicago, but I still love speaking at events and book readings.

Reviews

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

How does one even begin to capture the appeal of Nicole Hollander’s Sylvia? There's a scribbly quality to the linework, like something scrawled on a bar napkin between cigarettes, like someone frantically trying to keep up with the speed of their own thoughts. It's never out of control to the point of messiness. And there are so many delightful details: the absolutely perfect facial expressions (see page 57, for instance, where the shift in expression is all that's needed for the punchline), the patterns on wallpaper and clothing, the hats, the shoes (and slippers) … The pages abound with absurdity, parody, sarcasm, and more than a hint of feminism--not strident and in-your-face, but confident and resolute.

Since this book came out in the mid-80’s, some of the topical humor may baffle those under thirty. Those boxy things with the antennas on top, for instance, are TVs. There was a time, believe it or not, when they weren't wide and flat. And remember when Nixon and Reagan were the worst Republican presidents in recent memory? Good times.

Much of the humor in this book is timeless, though. There will always be self-important business types, fake cheerful newscasters, overblown romance novels, inscrutable cats, ridiculous ads, and many other favorite Sylvia targets. The Whole Enchilada has aged rather well. Recommended!

[Jude · Rating 5 out of 5]

margaret atwood tells of a survey in which groups of men & women were each asked what they feared most about the other sex. The women were afraid they would be killed. The men were afraid they would be laughed at. There is no hatred in Hollander's humor, there is only a dry, sexy, and merciless assessment of reality.
I love authors who can face a world shot through with horror, corruption and cynicism and articulate the dissonance of trying to live with intelligence and compassion in that world. To have someone do that and let me laugh with them thrills me.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sylvia had a big part in making me the woman I am today.

[s.e · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine my delight at finding a Sylvia volume in my local used bookstore- But then again I feel like Sylvia is one of those comics that are bound to be found in these places, as well as church sales and thrift stores, along with endless collections of Dilbert, and maybe a Sark or two...

A lovely volume, the full color comics in the middle were great. However, the "poster" advertised on the front was little more than a two sided full page illustration with some dotted lines to cut. As if I'd cut up my book! Well maybe I will, depends on how badly I need a Sylvia poster in the future.

While I'm critiquing the unique physical copy I personally have of the book, I'll mention that it very alarmingly fell apart halfway through.

While the funniest Sylvia collection I have would be my very beloved autographed Sylvia on Sundays, and while my most political would be The Collected Sylvia, the Whole Enchilada may have struck me as the most feminist.

Overall, I liked it! It was a good mix of the two I had had before, and a nice, if delicate, addition to my books.

[Kest Schwartzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disturbingly on point for a comic written two decades ago.

Fuck you, world, for not changing faster

[Viki Sonntag · Rating 5 out of 5]

As quirky, funny and on point today as it was thirty years ago.

[Curlysue · Rating 5 out of 5]

.

[Victoria & David Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

"My Weight Is Always Perfect for My Height, Which Varies"
And the wit and the humor ( and the bathrobe and the attitude), although a variable, is also perfect.
But always endearing.

[Valerie]

Obviously not truly unabridged--there're strips that I remember which aren't in this tome. But the most comprehensive version I have. I suppose I'll have to try to get some of the short collections. If I only knew where they were sold...

In the meantime, I'll enjoy reading this again, if only to remind myself of what's missing.

It starts, by the way, with a short photoessay (with captions) by the cartoonist herself.

Some of the really good strips are included. One of my favorites: one in which White House staffers refuse to speculate on what question the President (Reagan) THOUGHT he was answering.

These cartoons are worth close examination. Often quite good jokes are concealed in things like book titles or wall signs. Be a shame to miss them by an over-hasty reading.

[Linda Weber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm hesitant to review here because the actual book I read was written by Diane Mott Davidson but for some reason her name would not come up. Same title - wrong author. I love Davidson's books and did enjoy this latest one. However it did drag on a little more that her usual and I think was a little slow toward the end. I thought I had read her entire culinary series but realize I have one more earlier one to read so - checked it out!