FETCH
How A Bad Dog Brought Me Home
From an award-winning artist, a memoir of life with a difficult, beloved dog that will resonate with anybody who has ever had a less than perfectly behaved pet
When Nicole Georges was sixteen she adopted Beija, a dysfunctional shar-pei/corgi mix—a troublesome combination of tiny and attack, just like teenaged Nicole herself. For the next fifteen years, Beija would be the one constant in her life. Through depression, relationships gone awry, and an unmoored young adulthood played out against the backdrop of the Portland punk scene, Beija was there, wearing her “Don’t Pet Me” bandana.
Georges’s gorgeous graphic novel Fetch chronicles their symbiotic,
From an award-winning artist, a memoir of life with a difficult, beloved dog that will resonate with anybody who has ever had a less than perfectly behaved pet
When Nicole Georges was sixteen she adopted Beija, a dysfunctional shar-pei/corgi mix—a troublesome combination of tiny and attack, just like teenaged Nicole herself. For the next fifteen years, Beija would be the one constant in her life. Through depression, relationships gone awry, and an unmoored young adulthood played out against the backdrop of the Portland punk scene, Beija was there, wearing her “Don’t Pet Me” bandana.
Georges’s gorgeous graphic novel Fetch chronicles their symbiotic, codependent relationship and probes what it means to care for and be responsible to another living thing—a living thing that occasionally lunges at toddlers. Nicole turns to vets, dog whisperers, and even a pet psychic for help, but it is the moments of accommodation, adaption, and compassion that sustain them. Nicole never successfully taught Beija “sit,” but in the end, Beija taught Nicole how to stay.
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Paperback
- July 2017
- 328 Pages
- 9780544577831
Buy the Book
$17.95
About Nicole Georges
Nicole J. Georges is a professor, writer, and illustrator, who has been publishing her own zines and comics for twenty years. She is the author of the Lambda Award-winning graphic memoir Calling Dr. Laura and the diary comic Invincible Summer. She lives in Portland, Oregon.
Praise
“A touching, memorable dog tale bound to connect with animal lovers, graphic novel readers, memoir fans, and anyone intrigued with how pets and their owners reflect and sustain one another.”—Lambda Literary
“Fetch is beautiful. Georges’s artwork is inviting and frank as she tells a touching story of companionship and personal growth. A dog pack of two, she and Beija form a special bond, a friendship that hits home.”—Shelf Awareness
“This book is an homage to classic zine aesthetics that captures an incomparable friendship. An honest, moving portrayal of the essential bond between humans and animals.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Touchingly, beautifully conveyed. Part grief memoir, part coming-of-age story, part feminist manifesto, this well-written, splendidly illustrated title…will stir the hearts of misunderstood riot grrrls, owners of unruly canines, and LGBTQ readers.”—Library Journal, Starred Review