Middle Age Spread: A for Better or for Worse Collection Volume 19

This is yet another wonderful book from a gifted storytellerwith an eye for realism and detail. I ... appreciate the growth anddevelopment of characters as opposed to the perpetual childhood of Dennis the Menace and the Archie Gang. Very few books have tastefully, gently and kindly dealt with the passing of a loved one the way this one does. (At one time, I was a little embarrassed to admit that I could be so moved by a comic, but now I'll freely admit that). It is truly a work of art and I love the way you can "suspend" reality by e-mailing the characters! I love the "interactive" forum of the strip and I really love the character of Jim, a savvy senior citizen who brings in some sharp insights. It is past time for seniors to get positive press and I'm glad to see it happen in this book! THREE CHEERS FOR THIS BOOK! END

The Best book I have ever read in a long time.I have been reading the For Better or For Worse commic strip for the past two years. My mother is the one who got me hooked on it. What the Patterson family goes through with their kids, My parents go through the same thing. Exspecially my mother who has to put up with having her eldest child going to University and her youngest in college.The one good thing that my mother has is she only has to go through this twice.

I've been reading the adventures of the Canadian Patterson family ever since Elizabeth was younger than her sister April is now. I love the way Lynn Johnston's characters grow up and develop...sure, it ensures the eventual end of the strip, but on the other hand I find it so much more interesting this way than characters that stay five-years old forever, like Dennis the Menace or the Peanuts. I love comic strip collections. On the whole, they're cheaper than buying a year's worth of newspapers, and invaluable if you miss several issues.In this particular collection, Elly and Phil's dealings with their aging parents hit a little close to home with me, as I and my brother find ourselves in a similar situation. It's uncanny because I experienced some of the guilt, helplessness, and frustration that were portrayed, and I felt a strange kinship with Elly Patterson. I mean, I, a middle aged, never-married Black American suddenly had something in common with a fictional Canadian housewife! I guess it goes to show there are some things we all go through at one time or another. I can think of no better comic than For Better or For Worse to help point that out.