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Middle Age Spread : A For Better or for Worse Collection
 
 
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Middle Age Spread : A For Better or for Worse Collection [Paperback]

Lynn Johnston (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 1, 1998
In her touchingly funny daily strip, Lynn Johnston gives her fans realistic characters who humorously deal with both the good and bad that life gives them. Every day, Johnston demonstrates--through hormonal children and parents who aren't always right--that life goes on For Better or For Worse. In Middle Age Spread, parents John and Elly have started to notice their own aging process: the increasing need for glasses, exercise, and computer skills. Their children are also growing older. Michael, the eldest, advances ever nearer to adulthood as he makes his way through college in a distant town, creatively managing classes, a grumpy landlady, and a special girlfriend. Daughter Elizabeth, with her contact lenses, short new hairdo, and boyfriend, Anthony, is becoming a young lady upon whom her parents increasingly rely. The youngest, April, along with the Patterson pets, Edgar the dog and Mr. B the bunny, provide welcome doses of comic relief. But Elly worries about her parents. Her mother has grown dangerously weak and is often bedridden. With heartfelt authenticity and gentle humor, Johnston's Middle Age Spread delicately describes a loving family whose life together speaks to the noble human spirit in all of us.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynn Johnston was born in Collingwood, Ontario, and grew up in British Columbia. Today, she lives in Corbeil, Ontario. In 1985 Lynn was the first woman to receive a Reuben Award for Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society. She has also received the Order of Canada and claims a star on Canada's Walk of Fame.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 128 pages
  • Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (August 1, 1998)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0836268229
  • ISBN-13: 978-0836268225
  • Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #702,025 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lynn Johnston lives in Corbeil, Ontario, Canada. She was the first woman to win the National Cartoonists Society's Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1985. In the summer of 2008, she was inducted into the "Giants of the North," the Canadian Cartoonists Hall of Fame.
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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I could actually put myself in Elly's shoes!, January 2, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Middle Age Spread : A For Better or for Worse Collection (Paperback)
I've been reading the adventures of the Canadian Patterson family ever since Elizabeth was younger than her sister April is now. I love the way Lynn Johnston's characters grow up and develop...sure, it ensures the eventual end of the strip, but on the other hand I find it so much more interesting this way than characters that stay five-years old forever, like Dennis the Menace or the Peanuts.

I love comic strip collections. On the whole, they're cheaper than buying a year's worth of newspapers, and invaluable if you miss several issues.

In this particular collection, Elly and Phil's dealings with their aging parents hit a little close to home with me, as I and my brother find ourselves in a similar situation. It's uncanny because I experienced some of the guilt, helplessness, and frustration that were portrayed, and I felt a strange kinship with Elly Patterson. I mean, I, a middle aged, never-married Black American suddenly had something in common with a fictional Canadian housewife! I guess it goes to show there are some things we all go through at one time or another. I can think of no better comic than For Better or For Worse to help point that out.

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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT, AS ALWAYS!, July 12, 2000
This review is from: Middle Age Spread : A For Better or for Worse Collection (Paperback)
This is yet another wonderful book from a gifted storytellerwith an eye for realism and detail. I ... appreciate the growth anddevelopment of characters as opposed to the perpetual childhood of Dennis the Menace and the Archie Gang. Very few books have tastefully, gently and kindly dealt with the passing of a loved one the way this one does. (At one time, I was a little embarrassed to admit that I could be so moved by a comic, but now I'll freely admit that). It is truly a work of art and I love the way you can "suspend" reality by e-mailing the characters! I love the "interactive" forum of the strip and I really love the character of Jim, a savvy senior citizen who brings in some sharp insights. It is past time for seniors to get positive press and I'm glad to see it happen in this book! THREE CHEERS FOR THIS BOOK! END
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5.0 out of 5 stars fborfw book, January 27, 2012
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R. Kemp (Birdsboro, PA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Middle Age Spread : A For Better or for Worse Collection (Paperback)
Always enjoy Lynn Johnston's books. Her wit and sense of humananity is valuable. No other comic comes close to this one.
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