On the Coffee Table: Mimi Pond

Title: Over Easy
Writer and Artist: Mimi Pond

via Drawn & Quarterly

Over Easy is the author's graphic novel memoir of her time as an art school dropout in Oakland, California in the late 1970s.  One day, while running out of life options, she stumbled upon a diner.  Charmed by Lazlo, the quirky proprietor, and a surprisingly good omelette, she took a job, first as a dishwasher, then a waitress.  The colorful cast of staff and customers became her world.  With a simple, comic strip style, Pond provides an intimate view of early adulthood.

I've never been an art student or worked in a restaurant but sympathy for the protagonist came easy.  My early 20s were a lot of fun.  But they were also often lonely, frustrating, tedious and uncertain.  Going from student life to real life is, for many people, a greater shock to the system than they expect.  Over Easy captured all of that beautifully.  The material is frank, not shying away from sex or drug use.  It's a lot of fun to read from an adult perspective but I think it could also be meaningful for a late high school student pondering the future.