Caricature Books

Item came quickly, well wrapped and in perfect condition. What more could I want? Thanks!

Having recently returned from a few days in Prague, I was impressed with both the artwork and the serious history of this book. I highly recommend it for those reasons, as well as its clever summaries of several Kafka tales.

Kafka's life in itself is a very interesting tale, and I would recommend any book concerning the actual events of his life and the strange things that went through his mind. There are so many to choose from. From the multitude of books written about Kafka, R. Crumb's is actually a good addition. It provides something new to the world of Kafka, just as Maus provides something new to the WWII genre. It is sophisticated, intriguing, and downright creepy: definitely a great addition to your library.

Reviewed by: Tom Hendricks, Musea Review Service. Posted courtesy of the Underground Literary Alliance Book Review Blog.

Tom Hendricks is a ULA member. He has probably never met Robert Crumb, but might want to. I'd like to meet Robert Crumb.

What is it? : Franz Kafka's biography with text by David Mairowitz, and illustrations by celebrated underground comic artist Robert Crumb.

Technical Quality: High. Book is a well made, 175 page, trade paperback. Note the somewhat chilling cover with an orange Prague cityscape drawing , with a green insert of Kafka writing.

Innovative Quality: High. The book uses the graphic novel approach to tell the life story of the troubled but brilliant Franz Kafka. Crumb illustrates the main biographical events and portions from some of Kafka's most celebrated works.

Review: Three parts come together to make this a memorable and notable read: Franz Kafka's life and works, Robert Crumb's illustrations on every page, and an informative biographical text by David Zane Mairowitz.

Mairowitz writes: "Before ever becoming the ADJECTIVE (Kafkaesque) Franz Kafka (1883-1924) was a Jew from Prague, born into its inescapable tradition of story-tellers and fantasists, ghetto-dwellers and eternal refugees. His Prague, "a little mother' with 'claws' was a place that suffocated him, but where he nonetheless chose to live all but the last eight months of his life."

That well sums up a lot of the main threads of Kafka's life too. He was a Jew in a country that more and more hated and persecuted the Jews. He had an oppressive and abusive father that, like Prague, he could never escape. He had troubled relationships with all the women he was attracted to, and he never got the respect for his writing in his life time that he deserved.

The book goes into detail on all these issues and lets us see his world - a depressing world where it seems his only escape was his writing. And what writing he did. Throughout the book are illustrated excerpts of major Kafka works including: an early story 'The Judgement', the famous "Metamorphosis' where Gregor Samsa turns into an enormous bug; "The Burrow" an animal fable; "In the Penal Colony" with the new killing machine invention; his best known work, the novel, "The Trial" where 'K' is arrested - but for what?; "The Castle" the 2nd of 3 novels; "A Hunger Artist" who is a sideshow freak for his ability to starve himself, and "Amerika" his last unfinished novel.

At the age of 39 he retired from his insurance job (one that by improving safety standards actually saved many lives) due to tuberculosis. Kafka instructed his friend Max Brod, to destroy almost all his works upon his death. Fortunately for us, Brod did not carry that wish out.

The bio is fascinating, and the excerpts cover some of the best of Kafka's work. Now add to that the superb black and white illustrations of Crumb and we get a very great book indeed.

Crumb, known for his underground comics, has taken that style of art to high art here. His drawing style is the technical equal of any illustrator. Yet beyond that he has a gift for characterization , an eye for detail, and the ability to illustrate any scene. Had the bio and excerpts been any less compelling, the illustrations would have still been notable. Each page was filled with drawings and many of them are minor masterpieces on their own. An example are the illustrations on page 64 and 65. Kafka wrote many letters to Felice Bauer one of 4 women that he had important
relationships with. On the left side we see the couple up to their chests in pages of letters. On the right side of the page, we see Kafka writing at his desk in the bottom right corner with letter after letter stacked through the air, all the way up to the upper left corner.

Wisely Mairowitz, who wrote the text, does not try to embellish his work, instead his comments are sparse and to the point , thus better allowing Kafka the classic writer, and Crumb a world class gifted illustrator, to shine.

High marks all around in this new classic.

A find collaboration with Robert Crumb and David Z. Mairowitz. This opus reveals two things about Crumb: Crumb's attempt to vent his childhood Hell with his own father and a depth of related emotion uncharacteristic of his personality.

This is by far my favorite of the series of drawing books produced by Chris Hart. It teaches exactly what the title says, except that I'd be tempted to say "for the cartoon artist" more than "comic artist." In response to some of the criticism I see in the reviews about this book... yes, if you lack a basic ability to draw, then this is a bad starting point. However, nothing about the book suggests that it is a good starting point. This is about drawing in a specific style, not drawing in general.

If you're into drawing animated cartoons or comics, this is the book for you. It teaches on how to draw heroes & heroines with simple tutorials,and sample artworks. Basically only 35% teaches on how to draw, the rest are explaining the concepts,body structures,postures & angles.
Overall,this book Rocks! I've learnt alot in this simplified books, rather than those how to draw Manga books. This book is the best!

This is a GOOD solid book that addresses surface anatomy.
I recommend this book for seasoned artists having a rough time
transitioning from fine art to comic art. Plus this is a good reference
for budding and intermediate artists as well.
I think artists that want to explore making web-comics
and desire to create clean, crisp, deleniated fiures/ faces
will benefit from a book like this.

This one of the BETTER books by Hart.

As an animation student, I have struggled with drawing the human figure for years! I recently discovered this book and I am amazed at how well Christopher Hart has presented a complicated subject in a way that is easy to read and understand. Hart has an amazing way of showing you how easy it is to apply human anatomy into a streamlined look without losing individuality in facial features or body builds. The book is filled with side-by-side comparisons of traditional styles and the more simplified look so the reader can take the important elements of human anatomy and apply them to the cartoon world.

I previewed this book prior to purchasing it and I was originally skeptical. I worried that it might be too simple or geared towards a younger audience. After seeing an actual copy, my fears disappeared quickly! Although kids with an interest in cartooning can learn from this book, the adult crowd can too. Hart doesn't talk down to his audience and his sense of humor will make the adult audience chuckle.

I can't recommend this book enough. Whether you're a cartoonist, animator, or hobbyist, this is the book that can really add life into your art.

If you have never drawn comics and are not much of an artist then this book is not for you. Being someone that does not draw very well this book did not help me much. After consulting with someone who is a beginning comic artist this book is very helpful. They were able to gain new perspective in anatomy and body stylization that they were not aware of before. So if you have been drawing a little while and want to advance your style technique then this book could be for you.

The Two-Step This book is so helpful! As a licensed psychotherapist and couples' counselor, I use my copy in therapy sessions all the time! Couples are confused about chemistry, intimacy, and why they get turned off when they were once so turned on. This book makes the dance of intimacy crystal clear. I often recommend it to clients and pull it off my shelf during sessions to illustrate a concept. It's an easy read, with a sense of humor, and it tells the truth in a way that couples can understand.

I have recommended this book and given it as a present.

Read it one time for laughs and then go back and really pay attention and you may see your dysfunctionality in relationships pointed out.

This book has staying power. Because it comes at the reader with disarming visuals and humor, it is accessible to couples in a way that other accounts of the pursuer-distancer relationship are not. While it deals primarily with this dynamic (pursuer-distancer), there is some of nearly everyone in the antics depicted in the illustrations. I recommend this book for those struggling to get what they want in an intimate relationship.

This book is funny, risque, and amazingly profound. I couldn't put it down. I could see every relationship I ever had, with my parents, my children, my friends, in a clearer way. I loved it and gave it as a Xmas presents.

I am a Professor and Psychiatrist in Private Practice for over twenty years.

I have had a copy of this book in my office and waiting room for over twenty years. Sometimes, words can't adequately describe what we want to say. The drawings in this book are priceless, and have helped many couples to really understand what's going on in their relationship.
I recommend this book to all couples, regardless of their marriage or relationship situation. It can be a fun read.

THIS BOOK DEALS WITH FACTS, NOT FICTION. One of the people wrote in the review:" disappointed that it doesn't deal with any issues today that are killing the earth. it should focus more on the effects of global warming, destruction of our rain forests, killing off of our animals and plants, and the new technologies we have..."

I am glad it does not deal especially with global warming. As many scientists that support it are against it. The more I read about global warming the more I believe that it is a political agenda rather than a fact. Any books stating Global warming is a fact is same as stating with a fact that we were created by God. Nobody knows where we came from. Was it evolution or was it God? Do not get me wrong, I do believe in preserving and saving and trying not to polute and in doing our part. But no one can tell me that Global warming is a fact. Even Gore does not believe it or he would not be driving large SUVs and flying on private jet planes that polute more than any SUV will during a year. Just one flight across the country will cause as much polution as 100s of SUVs will in a year. I AM GLAD THIS BOOK GIVES FACTS NOT FICTION.

Plan on having students buy this and using it as an APES exam review in May.

I recently rented this cartoon book from the school library in hopes of learning more about ecology. The book did an excellent job giving easy-to-understand definitions, and the illustrations really boosted my comprehension. Though the book did not detail global warming and other "big" issues in our society, it was a fantastic teaching tool for the basics. It was a fun read, and it got me thinking about how minor changes can affect the way the world works.

Great book as a break from the normal Environmental science textbooks. A funny and informative look at many of the key ideas and concepts related to environmental science. Many of the cartoons are also useful for teaching biological science. Don't be fooled, some of the cartoons demonstrate fairly advanced ideas, but in a humerous and entertaining fashion.

Rarely do I post anything on the web, but I feel obligated to do so now in defense of this author. Global Warming is covered on pages 64, 201-3, and 207 as listed in the index. Ozone Depletion, page 199 & Acid Rain, page 198.

The progression of the "Far Side" Series took a blow with this book. There is not a funny panel in it. Buy any other "Far Side" book. DO NOT BUY this one. Far Side Gallery 2 is the best one. Its all up to you to decide.

gift for my husband......he loves them, I got him gallery 1-3. Plan to purchase more in the future.

Last year, I received the book as a gift from my husband. I put it aside for almost a year. He actually finished reading it before I even gave it a chance. Last month, I started reading it and I don't regret the experience.

This book made me laugh when I needed a good laugh. It's a recommended reading for everyone who appreciates good humor.

With a cow Mona Lisa painting on the front cover how can you go wrong? The cartoons in here are from Hound of the Far Side, The Far Side Observer and Night of the Crash Test Dummies. It may be cheaper to buy these books individually instead of this gallery so compare prices before purchasing.

The advantage of owning the galleries is that some cartoons are full page size which is three times the size of the original books. Not all cartoons are full size though just some.

The classic cartoon set in an exam with the bonus question (50 points) "What's the name of that thing that hangs down the back of our throats?" The caption underneath states "Final Page of the Medical Boards," is in this edition.

Another has Noah saying "Now Listen Up. We're Going to do This Alphabetically," the Zebras are thinking "Damn!"

The Classic "Drive George! Drive! This One's Got a Coathanger!" with a lion trying to unlock the car door to eat the woman.

Should you buy it? Of course you should.

Gary Larson has teamed up with Stephen Jay Gould, paleontologist and taxonomist --Harvard University, to create a biologically funny book. Humor has a purpose in this book. It is used in an attempt to cause the reader to think biologically on a macrocosmic level. Social interaction of all animals on the smallest level effects the bigger picture. I enjoyed this book very much; however, a few cartoons were biologically "over my head." With some critical thinking, all readers may be able to get the message of all the cartoons.

I took this book to my tutoring session, where a very bored Naisa wanted to leave early. When I offered her this book to read, some out loud, she perked up. Kids are often bored. She asked to borrow it, so I said YES. On the last day, she did not have it with her, so I told her it was a gift.

Julia Cameron says we are creative but we so often say not. The Artist's Way, her first book, kicked this excuse in to touch with its guide to defeating inner demons and rewarding creative angels. In a nutshell, write a morning journal on anything for three pages to ambush your inner critic and go out alone weekly to any artistic event to refresh your imagination. It works...honest! An Art Exhibition got me thinking about writing in these ways.

* A picture with images falling out and in...so why not a story of characters and events that fall in and out of the main plot

* Victorian prints mixed with photographic images and unnaturalistic stencils combine to create eerie and disturbing images... so create a story by taking a random handful of images cut from magazines as a starting point

* Pictures of ordinary objects made macabre... have images in the story at odds with the readers expectation, make the corpse of a women erotic, the murder comedic

Don't get it? Then read How to Avoid Making Art (or Anything Else You Enjoy) which attacks those inner demons with witty cartoons. Recognize any of these...

*Read all the forwarded emails from your friends instead of writing your novel

*Choose someone feels their dreams and goals are more important then yours

*Understand no circumstances make any art just for fun

Play and creativity follows is what she wants you to accept. Writing or painting class are still needed to learn the tricks of the trade but your imagination is already waiting to burst out.

Oh, come on - you know you do it, too. You tell yourself you're going to write that novel, or paint that picture, or learn that song, but somehow you end up doing anything and everything else. With humorous illustrations, this book shows artists how they themselves are their own worst enemies when it comes to actually creating art... and reminds us all that avoiding something is not the way to get anything done.

I love this little book. I found it after reading The Artist's Way, and like how it illustrates, simply, all the negative things we say and do that keep us from making art. It captures and shows the absurdity of self-imposed creative blocks -- letting me laugh at myself and see how unreasonable my inner-critic and self-saboteur can be. This book helps put my creative blocks into perspective. Afterwards, it is easier to get down to just doing the work.

This book spoke to me; as a writer and artist, I can talk myself out of creating, and this book confronts the reader with all the excuses. The whimsical drawings and insightful remarks inspire me to go to my studio and make art. I pick it up any time self-doubt surfaces, and I plan to buy copies for my friends who write and paint.

I own this book, and even though i'm not planning on being a comic book artist, it helps me alot with my proportions, perspective, action posese and just plain getting things right. It's also a great book for simple shading and stuff like that. only draw back is that his art isn't always ok. He's best at his comic book characters though, and it's obvious if you look at any of his other how to draw books.

if you have a hard time drawing out agreat looking bad guy or gal this is a book for you i have had a great deal of drawing out some really crappy bad guys but this book has helped me draw some cool bad guys so buy it

I own this book, and even though i'm not planning on being a comic book artist, it helps me alot with my proportions, perspective, action posese and just plain getting things right. It's also a great book for simple shading and stuff like that. only draw back is that his art isn't always ok. He's best at his comic book characters though, and it's obvious if you look at any of his other how to draw books.

This book is a good follow up to How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains. It touches on more subjects of making up villains, muscle structure, and other such things. This book though is not for beginners who haven't drawn before. All in all, this is a good book to have if you have already read the How to Draw Comic Book Heroes and Villains.

I got this book for my son who loves to draw and will practice endlessly when he enjoys the subject. Currently he enjoys tracing drawings to *isolate* lines and get a sense of what is actually necessary to make the entire picture. Sometimes this is difficult to picture in his head but with tracing it becomes simple... It gives him the ability to learn proportion in a *real* way...

This book is quite good for what he likes to do as the drawings are of good size and highly colored. Finished drawings are interspersed with step by steps so when he wants to go from tracing to drawing he will know what steps to take to produce the results on his own.

This book focus' on bad guys so there is text on what makes a bad guy bad...and what to add visually to put that point across (yellow teeth, baggy clothes...a scowl..etc) There are female as well as male villians and the females have the *typical*...errrr.... buxom comic book body type so perhaps for young children this would be a bit much. It is the typical style tho seen in the graphic novels so if your child is truly into the art form this is a good reference.

The text is helpful but not intrusive and the style of it is informal and conversational. I think it would appeal to a young non-serious set. There is discussion of art /drawing issues in the text (proportion issues in comics... what makes male faces male and female female...shading...etc) but I wouldn't consider this a beginner book. I think there is an expectation of some drawing ability to start with.

Overall, this is a very appealing book on alot of levels. I wish it was longer and that some of the pictures were a bit bigger but these are really minor issues for me and have mostly to do with how my son uses the pictures. The quality of the paper is very nice and heavy and the color is sharp and dramatic..excellent for the subject matter. This is quite a nice book.

Over the years I've enjoyed hearing Jeff Foxworthy tell some of these "redneck" jokes on TV, but this is the first book of them I've ever read. Many of them ARE very funny, and as I read I would tell some of the best gags to other people in the room, to the general amusement of all. But the problem is that by about halfway through the book it's getting very repetitive, often the same gag over and over with a slight variation. Now, the book is divided into various categories of redneckness, so that's presumably the reason for the repetition, since some jokes fit into more than one category. But if you're reading straight through the book that becomes tiresome after a while.

And maybe I'm too thin-skinned, but some of the jokes are offensive to people other than rednecks (of course THEY would be offended by this book!). For instance, Foxworthy seems to think that anyone who likes the music of Elvis Presley is automatically a redneck. As in "You might be a redneck if everyone in your family is an Elvis impersonator," or "You might be a redneck if you prominently display a gift you bought at Graceland," and many variations on that theme. Well, excuse me, but I'm an Elvis fan and I'm very tired of hearing crap like that, which is often told by Northerners as an insult to all Southerners (I'm from Tennessee). The same for anyone who likes car racing, or has eaten a corndog for breakfast (which I've done), or has an alcohol problem, or believes in UFOs, or lives in a mobile home. Foxworthy should stick to truly outrageous behaviour, such as "You might be a redneck if your family tree does not fork," or "You might be a redneck if you bring a bar of soap to the public pool." Those are funny, and anyone insulted by them should stop doing things like that. But in an effort to fill out 314 pages, he stoops to general insults that apply to lots of non-rednecks. Anyway, this is overall a pretty funny book, but by the time I got to the end I felt rather annoyed by the insults and repetition. He'd probably say I must be a redneck if I don't love his book!

This week's local paper led with our local school transportation director being verbally reprimanded after an email mocking "rednecks" snaked to his boss's email box. Among other things it called a shopping cart over a campfire a "redneck grill" and two guys throwing toilet seats at each other "redneck horseshoes."

"The e-mail system should be for business only! This is a business, it isn't a playground!" the school superintendent (a native West Virginian) thundered, echoing Milburn Drydsdale's pompously commanding his Commerce Bank minions. To which the transportation director replied, no doubt with Jed Clampett's modesty, "I consider myself (a redneck). I was born and raised in the mountains of North Carolina."

Thank blue collar comic Jeff Foxworthy, and hilarious one-liner collections like this, for these disparate views. Foxworthy's a Southerner and ex-computer programmer who struck black comedy gold focusing on proud, peculiar Southern peccadilloes: messy households, (sometimes too) strong family ties, minor law scrapes, regional dialects and slang. He turned their lives into a cottage industry with best-selling CDs, TV series, films, even a satellite radio channel atop one of comedy's most reliable concert tours.

The book's title sets up each joke in its 314 pages, focusing on redneck families ("If you cried the day your son tapped his first keg...") cars ("If you ever gift wrapped a tire...")and fashions ("if your wedding dress was leather.."), at work ("if the family business requires a lookout") in love ("if you used food stamps on a date") and outdoors ("if you've ever sent fan mail to a fishing lure")

"You Might Be A Redneck If.." isn't a book read cover to cover, but dipped into for tongue-in-cheek humor (and equally funny David Boyd illustrations) with the tobacco. (By the way, "if Red Man sends you a Christmas card..."). And laughing aloud or smiling in recognition, you may envy redneck resourcefulness (" If you clean your home with a water hose...") and unpretentiousness (...you ever slow danced at a Waffle House) which made their working-class lives content. It boosted that school transportation chief's pride, and once led Charlie Daniels to salute rednecks in song: "Now you intellectuals may not like it/But there ain't nothin' that you can do/Cause there's a whole lot more of us common-folks/Then there ever will be of you." (But remember chief, "if your chicken house used to be a school bus...")

Webster defines "redneck" as "a white member of the white Southern rural laboring class." Introducing this book, Foxworthy defines it as a "glorious absence of sophistication." To superintendent chagrin, and student, parent, and even blue-collar employee pride, this book confirms Foxworthy's definition funnier and more accurate. Recommended.

I ORDERED THIS BOOK FOR MY SON. HE ASKED FOR IT FOR CHRISTMAS. HE LOVES IT.

I love this book it is the greatest! My mom bought it for me and I read it the same day i couldn't put it down! So many of them reminded me of my family that I laughed the whole way through! Read this and you won't be sorry or bored!!

I am a big fan of Jeff Foxworthy. When I bought this book, I was excited. I loved reading all the punch lines. Its a good book to own for any Jeff Foxworthy Fans.

I love Mad magazine and I love all movies, so this book was the BEST thing that combines the two!

Some of the other books are better.

The satires are tremendous. The artwork and dialog are right on.as they once said. I only regret that the editors (both are MAD blue pencil people) and Time-Warner's marketing/merchandising machine took advantage of this material to promote themselves and their 75th anniversary (who cares?). I'll bet that they didn't spend a lot of money on this particular promotion, since MAD is owned by these mega-moguls. No, Time-Warner guys are mega-moguls. Meglin is simply a mega-Meglin and Ficcarra is, well, misspelled.

In the spirit of MADD, you KNOW the editors will never let you down.
The Laughs are enless, the satire is diehard and the art is truly amazing
FOR MADD FANS ONLY>>>>

I consider myself one of the biggest MAD fans in the world, but this book is a bit lame to the high standards of MAD. Maybe I just can't relate to all the movies because I'm not a big fan of the movie spoofs. Tha reason the book got two stars was merely because of the comics about movies in general, and a few good jokes by the likes of Dick DeBartolo and other great MAD writers.

What an entertaining book. My wife and I ordered several copies for female friends who are experiencing , or who have experienced ,the joys of the female aging process.

I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! I have not laughed so hard in years! This is the kind of book that you keep on the coffee table and read over and over again. I have read "Menopaws: The Silent Meow" often and it cracks me up everytime...

I bought this book a few years ago and thought it was hysterical then. Since then I continue to buy more books for friends and family because everyone needs a good laugh when they are going through "the change." This year I gave a dozen "Menopaws, The Silent Meow" books to a group of women who came to a class reunion. Not only was it a great ice-breaker... but everyone agreed is was fun and thoughtful. I recommend that all the women out there consider buying this book for their next luncheon or their class reunion. It's a real hoot!!!

I am a Cat lover so I was immediatly attracted to this book by the illustrations. I bought the first copy for my sister who is going through early menopause. She loved it ...I think it was the first time she was able to laugh at some of the things she was feeling. It's very well written with a great sense of humor ! I have since given this book to several friends. A great gift for someone in need of a smile !!

I noticed this book as I was browsing for information about menopause. I
purchased it thinking a good laugh would be a welcome thing! If a giggle
was had, it was solely a result of the adorable drawings. I actually winced
at a few of the comments. A definite DON'T BOTHER!