post 9

While reading through The Best of Betty I had several questions as to what it actually is.  My first question was whether or not it was just a short story or was there an actual Dear Betty of some kind and this is a the best of compilation of it?  Secondly if this is a compilation of Dear Betty's and not a short story how long did it span or at least what was the time frame of The Best of Betty pieces?  Another big question I had in the event that Dear Betty was real is was it fictional piece of work or was there actually a Betty who wrote for a newspaper at some point?  I also have several other questions about it but those three were the only ones that had any real significance over how I viewed the work.

The Best of Betty show a transition in Betty's mood throughout the pieces.  The first few pieces show Betty as a little snarky  but she also has a cheery feel behind it that gives the sense that she is trying to give helpful advice but she is very blunt about it.  As the pieces continue her cheerfulness goes away and she begins to riff on the people who write to her.  In last few pieces she begins to express the fact that she's upset about the many problems in her life and her last response makes me feel like she's starting to realize that she has to pull through the stress.