Grief and laughter are closer together than we’re usually willing to admit. Jokes and the Unconscious explores this disconcerting fact through the story of Sasha, a young woman whose father has recently died of cancer after a lifetime of being an oncologist himself. Sasha’s grief is messy and unwieldy, permeating everything and refusing to become neat and manageable, despite the troubled nature of her relationship with the man who has died; in this way Jokes and the Unconscious captures the uncontrollable nature of loss better than any graphic novel I’ve ever read.

The sheer unflinching honesty of Jokes and the Unconscious makes it uncomfortable to read at times, but that same honesty makes it intensely compelling. It’s a powerful, astonishing read.
Violence: Not depicted, but referred to in narration as having happened.

Sexualised Violence: References to molestation in backstory.

Gender: It’s a story told in a realist mode from a distinctly feminist perspective, so while there’s a lot of sexism, none of it is the product of the authors’ unconscious prejudices, and it’s always depicted as a problem.

Bechdel’s Law:

Minorities: Sasha is Jewish and bisexual; we see her in relationships with both men and women. There are multiple significant ethnic minority characters, and Sasha’s hospital job requires her to deal with mentally ill and disabled people (she typically shows them more compassion than the system wants her to).

Reader beware: Jokes and the Unconscious is extremely explicit about medical facts and the ways in which bodies can fail, which can make it difficult to read; as well, there is a scene in which a woman consents to sex with a man out of exhaustion when he’s been badgering her. (It’s not exactly rape, but it’s an unpleasant scene nonetheless.)

August’s review is presented by Katherine Farmar who blogs at Whereof One Can Speak, and posts on the girl-wonder forums as PurityBrown.

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