The Oracle Speaks

In this incisive, hilarious history of our obsession with self-help and wellness, graphic artist and activist Liv Strömquist tackles the commodification of advice and shame.

In this twisted, irreverent, and wickedly funny graphic novel, internationally acclaimed cartoonist and activist Liv Strömquist pokes fun at our historical, now internet-spurred obsession with health and wellness. In her characteristically quirky style—writing as she says with a “chunky, punky pen” and chock full of historical facts and photos--Strömquist breaks down our shame-driven infatuation with self-improvement in seven “easy” steps, rewriting the history of the advice that has led to our collective insecurity.

Using the teachings of an outrageous cast of characters—from historical figures like Catherine of Siena and the Oracle at Delphi to modern-day philosopher Slavoj Zižek, internet personality Rollo Tomassi, and even God himself, Strömquist satirizes what has become a billion-dollar self-help industry. She decries the capitalist corrosion of the human spirit and, at the same time, reminds readers of our relentless instinct to create meaning out of existential nothingness.

Edgy and smart and laugh-out-loud hilarious, The Oracle Speaks gets to the heart of our contemporary struggle with self-image, leaving us with the feminist anti-advice we never knew we needed.