Fattigt Skryt by Cecilia Vårhed

Published by Galago (209 NOK / ~ $28 CAD / ~ $20 USD)

Summary

"Älskling gets cheated on and has to dump herself on the phone because her boyfriend is too cowardly to break up. With the help of small sweets, decadent adventures and her co-dependent group of friends, she does everything to get through the heartbreak." (translated back cover summary)

Around the book

"Poor Boasting" is the debut graphic novel of Swedish artist Cecilia Vårhed. She's known for her underground zine contributions, notably for Rapport, Now! and Shallow Pocket (one shot zine). This book was released in 2023 to a warm reception, already setting her name apart in the Swedish indie scene.

There's currently no translation available for this book, but we're hopeful this problem will be resolved in the next few years as this book really deserves to be widely known, especially from the North-American and European market. Until then, use Google Lens (that's what we did while taking notes).

My copy was ordered straight from the author, augmented with a small drawing and a sticker.

On the book (content)

The title can be translated as "poor boasting", which can in turn describe someone boasting about a feat that's not really that impressive. Which is exactly how we could describe the vapid and vain lives of Älskling's self-destructive friends.

We have Mȧllgan, utterly obsessed with Ingrid and her polyamorous lifestyle, so much so that he will neglect his other ongoing relationships (friends and love alike) to prioritize this person. However, Ingrid asks for nothing more than to be considered as no more than any other human being, with her qualities and faults in equal measurements.

Then we move to Alfons, a no-life duck who spends the greater part of daylight playing videogames, masturbating, engaging in creepy behaviors and envy the lives of others. However, Alfons has the distinct impression that something is really wrong with his current lifestyle, he won't be able to keep this up forever.

Zacke, a chronically online loner that you'll never catch smiling. He brings the mood down anywhere he goes and keeps it down as much as he possibly can.

Älskling isn't without faults despite her predicaments, since she has deep trust issues and a troubled relationship with money.

How come all of these individuals can consider themselves friends? Because no one else wants to hang out with them individually, so they group together to pass the time. But no more than that! If one member of the group improves, it could break the group, and nobody wants to be left alone picking up the pieces.

With nobody facing their issues headfront or narrowly avoiding conflicts that could lead them to reevaluate their worldviews, individual progress is impossible.

This means that Alfons, despite an eye-opening cult encounter forcing him to change his life around and stay clean, can't have that and must rekindle his relationship with Action, a teenager.

Or that Mȧllgan, having temporarily broken free of Ingrid and able to focus on Love Warrior (another love interest of his, to compensante during Ingrid's absence) or any other personal growth opportunity, will still remain absolutely obsessed with Ingrid and unwilling to treat LW with the basic respect she deserves.

This ménagerie is hanging out in Stockholm, Sweden. They hang out, drink booze and bicker. But it's only when Älskling visits her Malmö friends that she finally realizes how lonely she really is, even when surrounded by her so-called friends who do nothing but bring her down and amper her personal progress.

On her way to Malmö, a man, annoyed by her loud phone conversation, picks her cellphone and breaks it. He then tells her she'll thank him for that later. At the end of the book, finally opening her eyes to the fact that she can't trust her "friends", she breaks her phone. Before doing so, she tells the man who broke her last cellphone (that happened to live in the same building as her buddies) that she can't have trust issues if she can't trust her friends.

This is a liberating moment for Älskling, allowing her to move on, broaden her perspectives and choose herself, even it means being alone for a while. Breaking her phone is also her way of breaking a pattern that stunted her personal growth for so long.

Another eye opening moment happens when she reaches Malmö and grabs a drink with a friend. The friend asks her about her personal life and the first thing that comes to Älskling's mind is her childish bickering with her friends.

The conversation switches to her actual life projects, to which she's simply unable to explain, as she has virtually none. Her group of friends stunted her life progress. Alternatively, when it comes to the friend to talk about their life accomplishments so far, Älskling is forced to hear them go on and on and on, each sentence only increasing her shame.

A fantastic book about self-sabotage and the true meaning of friendship: that is, a relationship that should heighten everyone and not keep everyone down. Älskling is the only one, by the end of the book, to have made a determined step toward self-improvement, even if it's a lonely step.

Copies can be bought at: https://www.galago.se/produkt/fattigt-skryt/ or directly through the author.