A Bathroom Book for
People Not Pooping or
Peeing but Using the
Bathroom as an Escape
by Joe Pera, Joe Bennett (Illustrator)
DETAILS:
Publisher: Forge Books
Publication Date: November 15, 2021
Format: Hardcover
Length: 111 pg.
Read Date: January 18, 2022
What’s A Bathroom Book… About?
I don’t know how to describe this book, so I’m going to lift this from the publisher:
Joe Pera goes to the bathroom a lot. And his friend, Joe Bennett, does too. They both have small bladders but more often it’s just to get a moment of quiet, a break from work, or because it’s the only way they know how to politely end conversations.
So they created a functional meditative guide to help people who suffer from social anxiety and deal with it in this very particular way. Although, it’s a comedic book, the goal is to help these readers:
1. Relax
2. Recharge
3. Rejoin the world outside of the bathroomIt’s also fun entertainment for people simply hiding in the bathroom to avoid doing work.
A Bathroom Book for People Not Pooping or Peeing But Using the Bathroom as an Escape will be waiting in the bathroom like a beacon for anxious readers looking to feel calm, confident, and less alone.
The Illustrations
I’m not sure how to describe it. A few adjectives jump to mind: quirky, offbeat, unusual. But they fit the tone of the book really well.
When the illustration is of an object (or a few of them), it’s very realistic—cartoonish, but realistic. There’s very little realism to the people depicted, however. They’re very cartoonish, with nods to realism. It’s an interesting way to go with that. I should stress that cartoonish isn’t a criticism, it’s just the best word I can come up with to describe these. Bennett has a style all his own—oddly compelling and fairly eccentric.
Along these lines, whoever did the page layout and typesetting deserves a slap on the back and maybe a raise.
So, what did I think about A Bathroom Book…?
Frankly, I had to buy this just because of the title. How do you walk away from it? I knew nothing about Joe Pera until this—now I’m curious about him.
Some years back, as I understand, there were a variety of books labeled “Bathroom Humor” or something like that—vaguely risqué (maybe some weren’t that vague), full of jokes and perhaps cartoons. I remember my grandfather had a book like that equipped with a chain so you could hang it on the towel rack or something like that. This is not that kind of book.
This is a gentler humor—the purpose of it is to help you relax and regroup, maybe to take a beat and prepare to leave the bathroom to face whatever social pressure (or similar hurdle) lies outside the bathroom.
We’ve all been there at least once—some of us are there on a regular basis—using the bathroom not just for a biological need, but to take a breather from life for just a couple of minutes. This is short enough that it can fit the bill (or, if you read slowly, it’s easy to dip in and out for a quick trip).
You’re not going to laugh out loud (probably—except maybe for the Jane Goodall jokes). But you just might smile—even a half-smile—because it reminds you of human oddities. And maybe because it’ll remind you that you’re not alone in needing this oasis from reality.
I enjoyed this, I think it’ll hold up to repeated readings. It’s an odd source of affirmation and encouragement—but I like it, and will take the affirmation and encouragement where I can find it.
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