Published exclusively for the Thornwillow Dispatch, this short story, complete with Chast’s iconic and unconventional drawings, chronicles the survival of a scrappy community which comes together following the ‘Blammo’ Apocalypse. This community adapts, and eventually thrives, in the sole edifice left standing: the Upton Mall. In “How We Survived,” Roz Chast captures a zeitgeist by situating this fantasy in the tension between hope and desolation. “How We Survived” is a story of hope for a world seemingly without any.
Roz Chast is a cartoonist, writer, and illustrator whose work has appeared in the New Yorker for more than four decades. Chast combines her sharp wit and unique artistic style to create humorous depictions of everyday anxieties, including family life and modern culture. Her most celebrated works include the memoir Can’t We Talk About Something More Pleasant? and Going Into Town.
Chast spent her early years in Brooklyn, New York, before studying at the Rhode Island School of Design. Over the course of her career, she has received numerous honors, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society, and the National Humanities Medal.
