Since Cathy's debut in 1976, she has become the symbol of single womanhood in all its glory—she's not just getting older, she's getting better. Dating dilemmas, diet disasters, and dressing room traumas. Cathy, America's favorite comic strip woman-on-the-go, has suffered them all—and endeared herself to readers in the process. Cathy's cartoon life has hilariously mirrored the path of women everywhere. In fact, Cathy book titles provide an uncanny overview of the feminine A Mouthful of Breath Mints and No One to Kiss, Wake Me Up When I'm Size 5, and $14 in the Bank and $200 Face in My Purse . Cathy continues to entertain millions of readers daily as she shares her personal and professional struggles highlighted by her on-again, off-again romance with Irving, the hysterical give and take with her overprotective and obsessive mother, and, of course, her battle against the bulge. Among the highlights of this cartoon collection, Cathy, "careening toward bankruptcy" as she puts it, cuts up her credit cards and joins Shoppers Anonymous. She then discovers Irving is dating an environmental activist and she herself becomes environmentally conscious...for three hours. Intermixed with the subplots are Cathy's wardrobe traumas ranging from swimsuit try-ons to the time she makes the fatal mistake of removing her "big, swinging coat" while wearing only a skin-tight unitard underneath.
Author
Cathy Lee Guisewite is the cartoonist who created the comic strip Cathy in 1976. Her main cartoon character (Cathy) is a career woman faced with the issues and challenges of work, relationships, her mother and food, or as Guisewite herself put it in one of her strips, "The four basic guilt groups." Guisewite was born in Dayton, Ohio and grew up in Midland, Michigan. She attended the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta sorority. Guisewite received her bachelor's degree in English in 1972. She also holds seven honorary degrees. In 1993, Guisewite received the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society. In 1987, she received an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program for the TV special Cathy, which aired on CBS. Guisewite was a frequent guest in the latter years of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Guisewite and her husband Chris Wilkinson reside in Los Angeles. She has a daughter and a stepson.
