I'D Scream Except I Look So Fabulous: A Cathy Collection [Paperback]

Cathy Guisewite (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1999

By now, we're all familiar with Cathy's battles among the four basic guilt groups-food, Mom, love, and career. Women can identify with Cathy Guisewite's hilarious portrayal of the universal struggles of modern femininity. A confirmed chocoholic, Cathy often consoles herself with one more trip to the fridge, then pays for it with frightening excursions in department store dressing rooms. Mom pushes Cathy to find the man who will give her grandchildren. As for her career, Cathy struggles to be a superstar, even though her desk looks like a disaster area. In fact, Cathy's all-too-recognizable life is what endears her to devoted readers. Her countless fans look on their cartoon heroine as a best friend, someone who really knows the trials and tribulations of the working single woman. From Internet dating to Christmas catalog fiascoes, from winter-flu one-upmanship at the office to kitchen technique discussions with Mom, Cathy puts her finger on the kinds of situations that women face in their real lives on a daily basis. In this Cathy collection, I'd Scream Except I Look So Fabulous, our favorite cartoon character once again shows why her popularity soars. Who can't relate to the discomfort fashion sometimes dictates in order to be trendy.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Cathy Guisewite launched Cathy in newspapers in 1976, becoming one of the few female cartoonists to hit the daily strip Big Time. Cathy Guisewite's many awards include a 1993 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year and an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for her CBS Cathy special.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (August 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740700065
• ISBN-13: 978-0740700064
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #405,279 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Cathy Guisewite launched Cathy in newspapers in 1976, becoming one of the few female cartoonists to hit the daily strip Big Time. Cathy Guisewite's many awards include a 1993 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year and an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for her CBS Cathy special.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guisewite at her best, March 2, 2005

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A reader (Rocky Mountains USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: I'D Scream Except I Look So Fabulous: A Cathy Collection (Paperback)

I'm an avid Cathy fan and this is Guisewite at her best. She keeps to her trademark humor and perceptiveness while using very "everyday" situations. To those who complain that the cartoon plays upon stereotypical female concerns such as shopping and food, I counter that these themes make the humor relatable to many women, while providing a backdrop to the cartoonist's witty and incisive social commentary.

This particular collection plays upon an unexpected twist in the Cathy-Irving saga. After a lapse of three years, Irving turns up in a very unexpected way in Cathy's life - her professional life! - as a downsizing consultant. Guisewite very cleverly develops various angles of this theme, such as the often seen discrepancy between a person's competent "together" professional demeanor versus the more lackadaisical, sometimes inept, personal one. The irony is heightened for instance when Cathy's boss introduces Irving as being hired to do some housecleaning (as he euphemistically calls it) for the company and Cathy remembers that he does not even pick up his towels off the floor!

Of course Guisewite weaves in her usual themes into the plot. The title itself stems from a realization that her cartoon protagonist looks fabulous with the aid of the usual flesh constricting sartorial arsenal of corsets, tight hose and stillettos, etc. It speaks to the inventiveness and imagination of Guisewite that she can bring up many fresh and astute takes on these seemingly mundane aspects of the female experience.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cathy Again!, February 24, 2000

By 

Valerie R Bowe - See all my reviews

This review is from: I'D Scream Except I Look So Fabulous: A Cathy Collection (Paperback)

Another great Cathy book as Guisewaite deals with downsizing, home businesses, and of course, relationships; the conflicts and triumphs that are all part of being female in America! Cathy reassures us that we're not the only one who thinks there's something slightly ridiculous about being a new millennium kind of woman!

3.0 out of 5 stars Cathy--still controversial!, August 6, 2004

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: I'D Scream Except I Look So Fabulous: A Cathy Collection (Paperback)

Even in 2004, the 1999 Cathy looks as controversial as ever. No wonder so many hate her and so many love her. Her creator, Cathy Guisewite, marches in and takes no prisoners in the battle of the sexes and even more importantly, in the Ingmar-Bergman like drama of love and hate that exists between mother and daughter. Poor Cathy, we always think, when she is forced to listen to more abuse from her mother, and yet, she seems to enjoy it in a way, perhaps she really wants to have children herself.

The way she tries to fit into unsuitable clothes was obviously borrowed for another 90s sensation, the over-the-hill scenesters of ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS, and this collection in turn tips the hat right back by alluding to the UK-made TV sitcom in its title. Guisewite has made a million variations on a very limited palette of character types and her drawing isn't the greatest in the world, but she's got angst going for her and an international fan base as well.