Will You Still Love Me If I Wet The Bed? by Liz Prince

Can you tell I've been in a comic shop recently? This is a short collection of two-to-four panel rough drawing cartoons detailing the inner workings of Prince's relationship with her boyfriend. And by "inner workings," I don't mean emotional ins-and-outs, cry fests, or gossip. I mean small, almost always tender, moments between two individuals. I opened the book to a random page, loved what I read, and immediately bought the book. It took less than half an hour to read all of the comics, and I wish there were more. The thing is, I'm living the ones that haven't been written.

So much of this book is familiar that I feel bad I didn't write it myself. At once, I feel relieved that there are other people out there having the most inane relationships moments, and I also feel jealous that my relationship isn't unique in that way. Here are the few sample comics I could find online, with commentary:




How real is this moment? It speaks to all kinds of things - the joy of giving mixed with the love of celebrating special days. That mixture of Liz's annoyance and Kevin's joy is so gorgeously accurate. It's not that funny, though, unless you recognize the situation from your own life. Next!




Now we're in the realm of cute, while still real! The comfortable way they're lying there should be familiar to anyone in love, and the silly little comments are hopefully familiar to everyone. This particular comic points to a physical intimacy to extends beyond sex. Here are two people so comfortable with not only their own bodies, but their bodies together, that they can refer to nipples without being crass or sexual, but just sweet and witty. Even when we cuddle, we're sexual beings. And here is the last one:




Okay, so my boyfriend's never done this to me, but I could imagine him doing so, and I know my reaction would be exactly the same. It makes me laugh. There is another comic that shows bathroom behavior I have engaged in. Liz pees in the toilet and tells Kevin, "I saved it, so you can pee in my pee," and he responds with, "Yay!"

The book isn't filled with scatology, though - don't worry. The frank attitude toward shared bathroom moments and flatulence is bitingly honest instead of frathouse comedy. And these are perhaps the most intimate comics. I can think of at least one person I know who would be turned off by this comic because of those moments, but they are the same ones that turn me right onto it. No one talks about intimacy like this: peeing in the same toilet as a kind of romance, cold nipples poking you blind as an extension of physical comfortability, and so forth. But that kind of intimacy exists. If it bothers you, there is plenty of "safe" cuddling-in-bed comics to overwhelm the very few bathroom-related ones.

One reviewer I read online said that the problem with this comic is that the moments seem as though they could only belong to this particular couple. Well, I'd like to punch that guy in the face, because more than one moment of my relationship that I thought was as private as private got was in this book.

So, I guess that makes me biased when I say that this book is completely infectious and almost entirely accurate. If you think I'm wrong, that's fine. But recommending that you read it is like asking you to peek through a little window to my own relationship. So that's kind of weird. Is there a way you could read and love this book without violating my privacy? Thanks. It's worth it.