Reviewed by Kristin
Commute is an uncomfortable book. Erin
Williams lays herself open and raw as she viscerally recounts her experiences
of being a woman. Williams seems very self-aware as she looks at how women are
perceived, and how they perceive themselves. Issues of love, hate, misogyny, power
inequality, abuse, and empowerment—they are all inside this volume.
Williams tells her story in pictures and text, a graphic novel
thick with emotion. She begins with waking up, walking the dog, waiting for the
train. As she goes through her day, she includes reflections from her life thus
far. She doesn’t sugarcoat her experiences, nor do they feel like any kind of
an exaggeration.
So much of the writing centers around how men look at women,
how women feel objectified, and how women shape themselves as a result. Every
minute of a woman’s waking life is filled with decisions on how to act, how to
speak, how to be. Williams describes this—in words and pictures—with painful
clarity.
She owns her experiences and actions; many center around sex
and alcohol, then turn to motherhood and positive female support relationships.
This is not a litany of male bashing, but simply a brutally honest expression
of what Williams herself has lived.
Commute is not my usual reading
material, either in subject or in its graphic format. It’s taken me a couple of
months of thinking about it to be able to write a review. But I appreciate that
the author dared to express herself, and I’m glad that I read it and recognize where
our experiences intersect. I’m glad that Williams found her voice, made herself
visible, and recounted her story in such a brave work.
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