All of Alison Bechdel's books are a delight; I remember consuming her memoirs + Dykes to Watch Out For in a feverish haze right after coming out, when I moved away from home and could finally bring home the library books I wanted. This, her first new book in nearly 10 years, is a treasure. When I stumbled upon the title on a "most anticipated" list in December, I was excited for the new material even as I questioned my interest in it. A book about sports and exercise hardly seemed my speed, and yet, it was by Bechdel.

And boy was I in for a treat.

Beginning with her childhood and ending in her 50s (present-day), Bechdel explores the different sports, exercises, and outdoor activities she's pursued throughout her life. Though it purports to be about Bechdel's "lifelong love affair with exercise" combined with "a hilarious chronicle of fitness fads" throughout the years, readers quickly realize that the book is about something much deeper and more primal: the search for connection in an increasingly divided world.

Interspersed with her memoirs are threads about the Transcendentalists (Coleridge, Fuller, Emerson, Thoreau) and the Beat poets (primarily Kerouac, though Gary Snyder and Allen Ginsberg make appearances, as well). Though I found the whiteness of these passages to be overwhelming (particularly troubling was the deft removal of Eastern tenets, religions, and philosophies from the context and culture that birthed them), Bechdel's skill with the braided essay is unparalleled. Her themes read like the most delicious of slowburn fanfiction, that steady crescendo to a satisfying end.

Bechdel's insistence on self-reliance to the point of physical and emotional distress, her substance abuse, and her tendency to work herself into catatonia, coupled with the fascination with the Beat poets' brand of Buddhism (that is, coming at this very non-Western, non-dualistic religion not head-on but rather through a white, Western lens) strikes me as very american. I mean this as both observation and critique. I loved this book, but I would also have liked to see Bechdel push past those initial layers of whiteness and into something deeper, more wide-reaching and sustained. This would have added an edge to her overview of each decade's fitness fad(s), too, something I found lacking.

This is a book I will likely read over and over, especially once it's available in print. I want to continue to grapple with these initial criticisms while also appreciating the depth and breadth of what Bechdel does give. And she gives, mightily. By the time I reached its final pages, I was nearly in tears. Overall, a book I will absolutely reread and recommend.

[4.5 stars rounded up]

Thanks to NetGalley and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for the advance ebook. Out May 4th, 2021.

Although my life and experiences are not the same, somehow when I read Alison Bechdel, it feels as if she is describing me. The Secret to Superhuman Strength is another deeply relatable book, this time with themes of exercise, body image, and ultimately learning to accept yourself. I really enjoyed this book, and look forward to whatever subject Ms. Bechdel takes on next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for review.

I consider Alison Bechdel to be a go-to artist and author in the graphic novel medium. Fun Home holds a special place on my bookshelf, and The Secret to Superhuman Strength is another wonderful example from this creator. Bechdel uses the visual page in interesting ways and I continue to enjoy this creator's style. The way Bechdel captures life in panels is, in itself, amazing. Highly recommended reading.

Alison Bechdel describes her lifetime obsession with various sports and the need to express herself through movement in this new memoir. She has focused on various aspects of her history in past books, and the focus of this one is her history of involvement in athletics. I have enjoyed her former memoirs and this is a new angle.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

Not what I was expecting from this author, a bold step. It works better than you think it would. If you love her, you will either love this new direction or resent a deviation from form. I’m just intrigued and would like to see more

How does she just keep getting better and better?? I've loved all her books and this is the best of them. I will certainly be covering this in some way for Book Riot.

Like those who say they knew bands before they were famous, that is the way I feel about Alison Bechdel. I knew her before Fun House, back when she first started Dykes to Watch Out For. It turns out she is just one year or so younger than I am, which might feel as though I have grown up with her and her stories.

The introduction to this book is a little long winded, about exercise fads, and I was feeling as though I was going to dread reading this, but when she went back to her childhood, and talked about exercising then, I found I was really getting into her story.

Like most of her books she has written, including Fun House, she brings up her own life experience to explain the things that are going on around her. Some of her stories are familiar, because of earlier books, but others have more information.

But it isn't just about exercise. It is also about being and non-being, about the consciousness of what we are, housed as we are within our bodies. She talks about poets and philosophers of days past, to show how their thoughts and feeling compare with todays.

A good deep read. I loved how when she showed painting of nature, she did an ink wash, and when she was talking about day to day life, it is done in the more cartoon like ink and color.

It is not Fun House. It is not Dykes to Watch Out For, but it is pure Alison Bechdel, and it is well worth reading.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.