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Reality Check: A For Better or For Worse Collection
 
 
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Reality Check: A For Better or For Worse Collection [Paperback]

Lynn Johnston (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)

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Book Description

August 1, 2003
They say life is what happens while you're busy making other plans. And in the latest update of the Patterson family, life is "happening" and a few new realities have set in. Still adjusting to their status as newlyweds, Mike and Deanna find that two cannot live as cheaply as one, and then learn an unexpected baby is on the way. After discovering that her live-in boyfriend was cheating on her, Elizabeth swaps steady date for blank slate. And Grandpa Jim catches everyone (including himself) off-guard when he and Iris elope to England. Life, it seems, always has a new surprise in store. Lynn Johnston has been bringing life to the Patterson clan for nearly 25 years, and for readers of more than 2,000 newspapers around the world, life just wouldn't seem right without her daily dispatch. This is the magic of For Better of For Worse: it is real life at its most realistic. Like real life, it is unpredictable, enlightening, heartwarming, honest, sometimes sad, and often very funny. Reality Check gives readers more of what they've come to expect from Johnston's beloved cartoon: a sense of connection, a shared intimacy with a family as familiar as their own, and a front-row seat to the enduring, endearing comic saga called life. Like the many For Better or For Worse collections that have preceded it, Reality Check is sure to resonate with fans around the world.

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Lynn Johnston began syndicating For Better or For Worse in 1979 and, since then, has published 30 books, most recently Family business and Graduation: A Time for Change. She was the first woman, first Canadian, and the youngest artist ever to win the National Cartoonists Society's prestigious Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year in 1985. In 1992, she received the Society's Best Syndicated Comic Strip Award, and in 2001, For Better of For Worse was chosen as Comic of the Year by Editor and Publisher magazine. Lynn and her husband, Rod, live in Northern Ontario, Canada.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 136 pages
  • Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (August 1, 2003)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0740738100
  • ISBN-13: 978-0740738104
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,950 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.
www.fborfw.com

 

Customer Reviews

9 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:    (0)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:    (0)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (9 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars you're on the ball again, Lynn!!, May 15, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Reality Check: A For Better or For Worse Collection (Paperback)
This, like all the FBorFW books, is fine comfortable family viewing. It is such a shame that everyone who reads it can't see the simple beauty of having a family (though 'fictional')like the Pattersons who really care for each other, their friends and their pets. Some of the other "reviews" I have read of this book seem extremely bitter and anxious to put down those of us who enjoy simple comics and stories of families where no one is on drugs or in prison for a hate crime or murder. If you want "gruesome", go watch TV and leave our Lynn Johnston alone!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Another "reality check" From Lynn, November 17, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Reality Check: A For Better or For Worse Collection (Paperback)
I became a fan of FBOFW after reading "Lives Behind the Lines". My favorite aspect of the strip is that, while Johnston generally sticks with chronicalling the so-called "normal, everyday day occurances" of nucular family life, she isn't afraid to write about serious issues. Aside from the well known (and VERY well done) story dealing with Lawrence, Johnston has dealt with such issues as the death of a parent and the ethics of journalism ( when Michael and Weed photographed a vehicle accident, then later learned that Deanna Sobieski had been involved). Lynn continues that tradition in ths book by addressing an issue that I, for one, have NEVER seen addressed in a mainstream, syndicated comic strip - sexual abuse. This story, which involves Elizabeth's roommate Candace, was published in December 2001. As usual, Johnston wrote the story well, and showed a great deal of sensitivity. As a survivor of abuse, this story has alot of meaning to me.
Another issue brought up in the book is the fact that Elly's father is showing signs of Alzheimer's. I look forward to seeing how Johnston deals with this.

P.S. : As Elizabeth continues her training to become a teacher, I was pleased to FINALLYsee the adition of some First Nations characters. Given that Johnston's strip is both Canadian and, usually multicultural, this omission had always struck me as odd.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Cartoonist - All in the Animated Family, May 12, 2005
This review is from: Reality Check: A For Better or For Worse Collection (Paperback)
Lynn Johnston and Robb Armstrong of "Jump Start" fame are comic geniuses in a class by themselves. No two ways about that.

Johnston has created a believeable and appealing family who, unlike most strips contend with controversial issues such as homosexuality; divorce; infidelity; physical challenges; racial issues; crime; death. It is always a treat to read her strip in the daily paper and it makes for something to anticipate daily.

Michael, the oldest Patterson child, now married has a child on the way. Readers follow Deanna's pregnancy up to the birth of daughter Meredith Anne. It makes for a riveting story line that is sure to delight most readers and maintain their interest.

Middle Patterson child, Elizabeth, now an adult and working towards her teaching degree moves in with her boyfriend, only to discover what a mistake that was. Her way of exacting revenge upon him was funny and resourceful.

April, the youngest Patterson child went from obnoxious pain to obnoxious teen and patriarch Grandpa Jim, a delightful character marries a woman whom he meets at a senior citizens' gathering.

A truly delightful collection that will not only evoke smiles, but will undoubtedly remind readers of milestones in their own lives.


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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
EVERY YEAR I WONDER IF THE JOY OF GIVING EQUALS THE JOY OF GETTING THE GIVING OVER WITH! Read the first page
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