Aliceheimer’s / How to Drink Like a Billionaire
Books That Belong On Paper Issue No. 39
Books That Belong On Paper first appeared on the web as Wink Books and was edited by Carla Sinclair. Sign up here to get the issues a week early in your inbox.
A SERIES OF POETIC AND ILLUSTRATED VIGNETTES FULL OF HEART AND HUMOR
Aliceheimer’s: Alzheimer’s Through the Looking Glass (Graphic Medicine)
by Dana Walrath
Penn State University Press
2016, 80 pages, 8.2 x 0.2 x 8.8 inches, Paperback
Aliceheimer’s is Dana Walrath’s touching tribute to her mother, Alice, who faced the early regressive stages of Alzheimer’s while living with Dana’s family in rural Vermont. Illustrated by combinations of pencil work and collaged text from Alice in Wonderland, Aliceheimer’s is an honest but gentle account of family caretaking in the face of a degenerative disease.
Walrath, a medical anthropologist, first began depicting her mother in cartoon form as part of an e-mail exchange in which she and a friend agreed to send each other a drawing a day. Aliceheimer’s grew into a larger work through the Brooklyn Art Library’s Sketchbook project, and evolved into its current form, a self-described work of “graphic medicine.” The book serves as a collection of poetic vignettes that focus on the wit and personality that persevered while other parts of Alice began to fade away. In the book’s introduction, Walrath explains that she was drawing her mother in part to process the grief she felt in witnessing her mother’s illness, but also to “remember the magic and laughter” during their time together.
Walrath’s experiences of her mother and ability to find humor and absurdity in the sadness of her situation reminds me of my own mother, who often punctuates stories of my grandmother’s struggle with dementia by saying “as long as she’s happy, I can deal with it.” While anyone living in proximity to the disease is well familiar with the dark and heavy challenges that come with it, Aliceheimer’s maintains a light, respectful tone as it archives Walrath’s fondest memories of Alice’s later days, crafting them into entertaining anecdotes while honoring Alice’s dignity. It’s an easy-to-relate-to read for someone memory disorder adjacent; each page is like a familiar, meditative short story. The book, which is printed on a thick, glossy stock that feels good on your fingers and bolsters the quality of the illustrations, can easily be read in one sitting or taken in a bit at a time. Lovingly written and unique in its presentation, Aliceheimer’s is a sentimental read full of heart and humor.
– Janine Fleri
HOW TO DRINK LIKE A BILLIONAIRE FOR THE CASUAL CONNOISSEUR
How to Drink Like a Billionaire: Mastering Wine with Joie de Vivre
by Mark Oldman
Abrams ComicArts
2016, 256 pages, 7.5 x 1.0 x 9.2 inches, Hardcover
I love wine, but man can it get complicated. Reds. Whites. Vinos. Pinots. Terroir. Lactic fermentation. Tannins. Oak. So much oak. Do you drink a red wine with red meat? Do you drink white in the light, after a fight? It’s overwhelming. I spent a week shadowing a winemaker as he explained almost every detail of the winemaking process, and I still can barely tell red from white. Red wine’s the red one right? How to Drink Like a Billionaire does a very nice job of demystifying and simplifying wine, for the casual connoisseur and even a seasoned wine drinker might learn a thing or two.
The very first section right after the introduction is: Pleasure is not proportional to price. From there, I was in. One of the biggest mistakes that turns people off wine, is that you have to spend money in order to drink the good stuff. This couldn’t be further from the case, and Mark Oldman wholeheartedly supports this belief. From there, he does a nice job breaking down anything and everything wine. He talks varietals, terminology, aging, he goes into some unexpected wine pairings like drizzling a little dessert wine on your pancakes, and that’s just skimming the surface.
The goal of the book is not to achieve total wine snobbery, but to simply understand and enjoy wine a little more. I think Oldman does this really well, with a great sense of humor, and lots of fun photos and illustrations. This isn’t a book for teetotalers, but if you’ve got an interest in red, white, and bubbly you’ll enjoy it.
– JP LeRoux
11/5/24
