Read this as a fan of her work and a friend of several female geologists with stories from remote work camps. I was struck by the even-handedness of it. Really interesting exploration of labour, gender, and home. The artwork is also phenomenal at conveying the personality of the characters and the sheer scale of the jobsites.

The topics are heavy, but the book isn't trying to oppress you, the reader. The tone is downright conversational even when it's talking about terrible events or life-and-death decisions.

And the pacing is perfect. I opened to the middle and read 60 pages before I looked up.

https://archive.ph/FYpkL

Pretty realistic and frank memoir of being female in isolated and overbearingly male workspaces.

Mining, military, etc.

Kate Beaton must have a brilliant publicist. Over the past few weeks there’s been a “Ducks” blitz in the outlets I follow: email newsletters, websites, magazines. “Ducks” even made the front pages of Ars Technica and HN despite no obvious tech connection.

I’m sure it’s a quality work and I actually look forward to reading it. But I’d also like to read the companion piece by her agency:

“The Making of Ducks — how we got people who read about GPUs to care about a comic set in Alberta”

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Her sensibility suits well the readership here. Enjoy her web comic archive -

http://www.harkavagrant.com/archive.php

A favorite:

http://www.harkavagrant.com/index.php?id=5

Ordered the hardcover immediately, looking forward to spending a weekend chunking through it

Tangentially related: I can't imagine how hard writing this book must have been. Not only are the main topics heavy, but even some side characters and one-off jokes feel ominous knowing where life would take her. And then having to do media tours and interviews to relieve them all every other day? Oooff.

Kate Beaton’s “Hark, a Vagrant!” is some seriously fun intellectualism and the historical references will only date you if you’re 300 years old. Such a fun book if you have some sense history.