Mid-Life

This was a delightfully refreshing read.  I've been pretty brutal with my reading lately.  I've been trying to read a lot, but I also have little patience if something doesn't grab me fairly quickly - life is too short and all that.  So I was happy to come across this ode to the mid-life crisis.  Perhaps ode is a bit extreme, but it's a great book and I think a lot of people will relate to it. 
It's the story of a man in his forties who first became a father at the age of seventeen, and now with the kids from that marriage grown up he's in his second marriage with a newborn.  He's a man who's been responsible and married for pretty much his entire adult life and now he's starting to feel like he missed out on the days of running around free and having fun.  On the other side it's the story of a children's musician who is at the peak of her career but wonders if she hasn't sold-out and if she should return to her earlier grittier roots of songwriting, even if it means walking away from the fame and the money.  A man tied down by life, and a woman free to make her own way.  Both in need of something.  These stories are juxtaposed with one another and then, as you might have guessed, come together at the end.
The art work is really interesting in it's sketchbook quality.  It doesn't feel like it's been labored over, in a good way.  The whole thing comes off as a very brutally honest reflection of life that's at times extremely funny, and often poignant.  If you're near a Canadian city you should be able to find it quite easily.  You can also download the first chapter of it here off Joe Ollmann's website. 
Give it a whirl!  I highly recommend it.