Kristen Baumgardner Caven

With The Reason She Left and Other Stories, Kristen Baumgardner Caven opened up new territories in sequential art. Seven short pieces explore science history, martial arts, relationships with animals, road trips, romance and love, and a 30-page tour-de-force of a young woman on a quest to find her own beliefs. In the centerpiece story, free-thinking friends blow her mind with discussions of philosophy, language, war, isms, and disappearing cows. From the quirky to the academic, Caven's charming graphic stories deal with the scientific process, eastern/western world views, humanism, existential crises, lit-crit, post-modernism, dualism, feminism, alcoholism, pop culture, dreams, and cosmic consciousness. The collection is wrapped in personal essays in which the author shares her journey of discovery through the craft, her life, and building a personal philosophy by understanding the ideas of others. The Reason She Left and Other Stories is the follow-up to Caven's first memoir, Perfectly Revolting: My Glamorous Cartooning Career.