For anyone who wants a crash course in contemporary comics, or wants to teach one, this is your book.
A comprehensive, critically incisive survey of comics in contemporary culture.
Rather than a professor who happened to latch on to comics as a promising field for research, Chute (English, Art and Design; Northeastern Univ.; Disaster Drawn: Visual Witness, Comics, and Documentary Form, 2016, etc.) clearly has a deep understanding of, experience with, and affinity for comics culture. Best of all, though she analyzes with an academic’s rigor and supports her themes with extensive research, she doesn’t write like a professor. Tackling a tricky subject like Robert Crumb’s objectification and caricature of black female sexuality, she writes, “Crumb isn’t mocking black women, but rather he’s mocking a public discourse that either implicitly or explicitly mocks black women. And yet Crumb always makes tricky or unclear the line between the act of satirizing something and embodying it.” Rather than argue about the cultural legitimacy that comics have achieved, Chute simply treats this as a matter of fact—a fact with which she, as a fan, is very pleased. The result is a study, rife with full-page panels illustrating points she makes in the text, that will enrich the understanding of readers who know and care a lot about comics, from punk zines to graphic novels, as well as initiates who seek an understanding of how this cultural shift came about and what it means to academics who wish to research this fertile field. The cartoonists have even infiltrated the academy, as the author writes in her appreciation of Lynda Barry: “It is telling that Barry is currently a tenured professor, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, of what is called Interdisciplinary Creativity (the best job title perhaps ever!)” Chute also goes deep into the lives and work of Art Spiegelman (with whom she worked on MetaMaus), Alison Bechdel (whose Fun Home made the leap from graphic novel to Broadway), Matt Groening, Chris Ware, Charles Burns, and so many others.
For anyone who wants a crash course in contemporary comics, or wants to teach one, this is your book.Pub Date: Dec. 5, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-247680-7
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Small in scope, but will attract readers interested particularly in dogs, moving, and Manhattan.
Nicely varied pictures support a story that will appeal specifically to dog-lovers, children who have just moved houses (or are just about to), and readers familiar with New York City and Central Park.
Beau, a Dalmatian, moves from "a house with a great big yard and lots of grass and trees" to an apartment on the West Side of Manhattan. Sitting in the new apartment, ignored by the movers and surrounded by boxes, Beau wonders sadly where his favorite objects are and whether he’ll ever make new friends. He looks mournfully out the window and sees a huge park—and there are dogs running around! He immediately runs out the door and onto the city streets all by himself. Traffic and streetlights intimidate him briefly, but he soon latches on to a dog-walker and her dogs. Beau joins them for Frisbee and "leap dog," digging holes, and chasing squirrels and pigeons. His new pals jump into a fountain, but Beau decides he better not track muddy paws into his new apartment. Returning home with a promised play-date for the next day, he takes a refreshing drink from the toilet bowl and curls up on his favorite couch. Margolis winks at readers as Beau's owners (appearing for the first time) lament how boring and lonely Beau's day must have been. Frequent misplaced and missing commas are a distraction, but the illustrations use color well for cheer and atmosphere, and angles and perspective vary and remain interesting.
Small in scope, but will attract readers interested particularly in dogs, moving, and Manhattan. (3-5)Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 1-4134-6361-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In definite need of editorial direction but makes a case for the author–whatever his name is–getting his own...
Step-by-step instructions on how to build a home in an economical and artistically unique way.
Owning a home doesn’t have to be a trying ordeal, says Madison, who reports that he built his own house with little more than his own muscle power and ingenuity. Though he claims not to be particularly handy, he managed to create a fully functional cabin complete with electricity, running water and Internet access as part of a journey that was both fulfilling and therapeutic. He takes readers through the process, from cutting down trees and laying the foundation for the floor to installing the piping and electricity to detailing plans to build additional modules. Pictures and diagrams complement the text, and the author even discusses his future plans to fully automate the cabin. In addition to the down-and-dirty details, he uses quotes from a number of philosophers–Aristotle, Locke, Rousseau and others–to help explain his motivation: It was as much about testing his own abilities as it was about creating a physical shelter. On one level, this is a practical guide that contains pertinent information for people who actually want to build their own cabin. On another, it’s a fascinating look inside the mind of a man who chose to go against the grain and who writes with such folksy charm and comical practicality that you can’t help but applaud him for bucking the system. Those not interested in building their own homes will be bored senseless by the technical details and some of the long-winded endnotes, but entertaining anecdotes–such as how the author munches on blackberries while simultaneously trimming his beard in his yard to lay down a barrier of human scent that deters snakes–keep the pages turning.
In definite need of editorial direction but makes a case for the author–whatever his name is–getting his own home-improvement show.Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2006
ISBN: 1-4196-1593-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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