Grief and Anger
A Cartoon Book for teenagers and adults.
“Grief and Anger… is a patient, compassionate, and non-judgmental exploration of several of the ways one of the least socially acceptable expressions of one’s grief in our culture—anger—is found and acted upon within sorrow.” - GraphicMedicine.org (full review below)
When we lose a loved one, within our sorrow there can be anger. This simple book allows us to take a look at variations of this rage, with eyes of compassion. From anger pointed towards a relative, to larger institutions, to hospitals, to the higher power (for people of faith), and even to oneself. Linocut prints, pencil and acrylic paint combine on the pages in a style of immediacy and raw emotion, as if from a grieving person’s journal. The rough cartoons and touches of levity sprinkled throughout keep us moving through the heartache explored. Sometimes a simple cartoon can get to the core of a truth better than an essay on a topic. Like a song, it reaches us where words and the intellectual mind fear to tread.
This book is meant to be a resource for people going through the grieving process, as well as for those who are there to assist them, whether as friends or a professionals. A psychologist who works with patients in hospice was a technical advisor for the project, making sure the message was clear enough, and that points needed to be made were done so with respect and kindness. It can be among the resource materials in waiting rooms in hospitals, clinics, funeral homes and counseling offices.
In PAPERBACK and E-BOOK
Available in USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, UK, Europe, India, Brazil, Mexico... Anywhere Ingram distributes.
Purchase at these fine shops:
(If on AMAZON, check for the best New book price, as sometimes they first list an increased amount)
© 2021 Text and Art by Stefan Salinas
Age Range: 13 - Adult
Format: Paperback, 36 pages Size: 5.83” x 8.27”
Publisher: Camelopardalis
Language: English
Print ISBN-13: 978-0-9986088-4-6
E-book ISBN-13: 978-0-9986088-5-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020925726
Artwork: Linocut prints, acrylic and pencil on paper.
Proofreader: Robert Lynn
——————————————————————-
Graphic Medicine May 13, 2021 - Review by Jasmin Tomlins -
With a title that speaks to precisely what is discussed within, Grief and Anger by Stefan Salinas is a patient, compassionate, and non-judgmental exploration of several of the ways one of the least socially acceptable expressions of one’s grief in our culture—anger—is found and acted upon within sorrow. While the graphic work has no particular focus on medicine, the medical system and the myriad of caregivers that work within it are addressed in terms of being among those who might be lashed out at and speaks to their genuine desire to be of help.
Grief and Anger is not a specific story; instead, we are encouraged to see ourselves within the many unnamed characters as they navigate different situations. There is discussion of a relationship with the divine and many faiths are represented. Hope is made room for, but with no push towards trying to change one’s feelings to be more positive or the idea of attempting to fix or solve anything. Despair does not mean being broken. The only true encouragement is towards kindness and honesty to the self and others and the acceptance of one’s own feelings, no matter what they are from day to day or moment to moment. What it says, it practices. Rather than finishing on an uplift, the last words we are left with are “Today I cry.”, something unique in a culture which so often heavily prioritizes looking up and moving forward. Here there is permission given to be still and hold space for one’s moments of sorrow.
The artistic style is simple, but thoughtful: bold-lined grievers in a world of smudged and scribbled pencil gives the sense of those characters and their feelings being in sharp relief whilst the rest of the world feels unreal, unfinished, foggy, a thing apart, which speaks to the experience of grieving. The lettering is hand done, down to the page numbers, which aids in creating a feeling of being spoken to personally by the author.
The writing is unadorned and clear in a way one might initially think more appropriate for helping children to come to a place of better understanding but, while it is certainly accessible to children and I would recommend it as a wonderful tool for starting conversations with them on the subject, that is not the full extent of its audience. Anyone struggling with allowing their grief to contain anger or coming to a better understanding of the anger in another’s grief will find truth in its pages if they allow themselves to. In fact, shortly after reading Grief and Anger for the first time I myself had occasion to think back on it and found that in my own grief, my own anger, the simplicity rang true. Sometimes, when we are in the midst of hurting, being spoken to and connected with this way is far more effective than any erudite text could hope to be.