Title: The Pain-When Will It End: It never ends Author: Tim Kreider Publisher: Fantagraphics Books Publish Date: 2004 Pages: 132 Reviewer: SexHerald Staff

Rating:

I'm not sure when this book ended up at the Sex Herald office but I'm glad it did. While there are a great number of asses, tits, and spending cocks in this volume, this is not a book about sex. Tim Kreider's collection of one-panel comics seems to be about everything. He takes a precise stab at everything from potential disappointments in the space program to mass-produced chicken products.

So what's up with The Pain? I can't go into it too deeply, because in the first place I don't want to spoil the fun for anyone by citing examples, and because in the second place it's pretty indescribable. There's a long illustrious line of off-kilter one-liner authors like Chas Addams and Gary Larson, but Kreider has a little more misery than either of them. He has a talent for connecting the tiny exasperations of life to the big fucking problems. There are many moments in the book that trigger a feeling of recognition, followed closely by a feeling of hollowness and shame, as in,"Hey, that's something that might happen to me! Oh...Crap. That's not too good."

The reason The Pain belongs in with the adult books is because it has the same whiff of scandal and electric pleasure. This is something that would be a profound revelation to a high school student, passed around under desks and read behind a thick textbook. That Kreider mixes jokes about sex and love in with a few slams at organized religion and politics is no mistake. While sex is often held separate from other elements of life, it is in many cases deeply integrated. We think about it, need it, spend a lot of time and effort to get it, as much as we pursue prosperity and intellectual understanding. The Pain understands this and the picture that Kreider presents blends everything together so that we get a reasonable facsimile of what real life is like- work, eat, love, fuck, die, etc.

Kreider doesn't pull his punches. There are some really uncomfortable moments in there, but the effect of the whole book is wonderful. There's something for everyone about everything in this little volume and you won't regret it if you get it.