How to Be Happy

How to Be Happy, by Eleanor Davis, 145 pages

This is not a self-help book, I promise.  This is a collection of short graphic stories, ranging from dark to humorous to inspirational to just weird.  Here are some favorite moments.  In one series of 6 panels, a woman goes down to the river every clear day, and yells her love across to someone on the other side.  She never sees the face of her loved one or even hears the reply- but she keeps going.  In another, there is an "emotion room"- a place where you can safely release all emotions "black and stinking; they glisten like oil slicks"- and once they are safely released, you can exit and eat orange slices.  Another great one shows a man looking inside a cut and seeing "a small mortal man he'd carefully hidden inside his own good, strong body." 

Some of the stories are short, some extend over a series of pages, but all are thoughtful and substantive.  The illustrations range from simple black and white to gorgeous watercolors and those like that on the cover.  This was a really fantastic graphic collection.