Kim: A Novel Idea is a graphic literary novel about a lonely millennial named Frankie, her boyfriend Jacob, their talking cat Catman, and an unhealthy obsession with Kim Kardashian. Faced with the difficulties of her life—her boyfriend’s grief, her fear of failure, her sexual past, her millennial malaise—scrolling through photos of an uber-celebrity is the only way Frankie knows how to cope through escape. Kim: A Novel Idea gives us insight into the downfalls of contemporary living while asking: are digital identities the cure, or the poison to waking life? Kim: A Novel Idea is hilarious in the sense that it's brutally honest; real in the sense that it's relatable. Exploring politics—personal, political, social—to comment on university writing programs, intergenerational wealth, fame, #MeToo, love, and our multiple selves, there is something lovable about Frankie’s insufferable attitude towards life; something deeply relatable about her self-doubt in convincing herself she's “never going to make anything of my goddamn, pathetic life." Why? Because, like us, Frankie is stuck in a capitalist cycle of celebrity marketing rings that target young women’s insecurities about their bodies and accomplishments.

Frankie Barnet's profile page

FRANKIE BARNET is a Montreal-based writer and the author of An Indoor Kind of Girl (Metatron, 2016), which has been translated and published in French (Les éditions de ta mère) and Spanish (Paloma Ediciones) and had a story from it included in Best Canadian Stories anthology (Biblioasis, 2017). Her work has appeared in Peach Mag, Joyland, PRISM International, The Vault (With/Out Pretend), plasma dolphin, and Papirmasse. She is a graduate of the Creative Writing program at Concordia University, and recently received her Masters of Fine Arts (Fiction) from Syracuse University. Kim: A Novel Idea is her first graphic novel.

"Frankie Barnet’s Kim: A Novel Idea (Metatron Press, 2022) provides a pointedly introspective narrative that juxtaposes anxiety and depression with intimacy, parasocial relationships, and the experience of being “very online.” - Los Angeles Review of Books

"Through dry humour, playful visuals and immense vulnerability, Barnet lays bare the inextricable nature of grief, love, and loneliness." - Vallum Magazine