Caricature Books

The illustrations are good; Fleisher is clearly an adept artist. However, what he doesn't have are creative ideas. It would be better if he could get an "idea person" to describe some concepts, and then they could work together on refining it.

Fleisher is an excellent illustrator. These cartoons may not be for everyone, but I found myself ROTFLMAO.

I found this to be great for the light heart humor. but for those of us with a morbid personality it's not worth it.

i glanced at this book at the bookstore while waiting for a friend and i thought it was pretty darn funny!
something like this sort of humor is obviously something which not everyone will laugh at, so chill out Fox!

This book is like watching America's Funniest Home Videos while watching a Piccolo Pete fizzle.

Very little cleverness, and doesn't make up for it with decent art. If you're a Gorey/JTHM fan, let this one pass.

My daughter collects all the Get Fuzzy books. When I saw this was a hard copy I was very excited. They fell to mention the book is like a 5 x 5 and a sentence or two on every other page. Of course my daughter will enjoy adding this bad kitty to her collection but I think the "hard copy" description was deceptive.

This is a gift-book that is a compilation of single frames from previously published whole comic strips. The frames are usually the "punch lines" and are funny only if you have previously read the entire strip and understand the dysfunction that is Bucky Katt. There is no new material here. If the recipient of the gift is not familiar with the material, they will not think this is funny. If they are familiar with the material, they have seen all of this before.

this is a great gift for any dreamer who says I want a cat!

As all of his cartoons, I loved this book. It is very, very cute and would make a great gift for someone who likes cats. I bought it for myself.

If you like Get Fuzzy you are going to love this book. I laugh everytime I read it.

Think of all of the good books out on the market that you could buy! Flip through this book once or twice and you'll learn all there is to learn...from this book. There's so much out there about drawing women that this book just doesn't cover anything. Well it covers a lot of the same things his previous books cover, but that's about it. By the way, if you're going to learn to draw comics professionally, learn to draw comics from professionals, not from people that would do well to take a class on "The Basics of Comic Book Artistry 101" I will say, though, it's not all Christopher Hart's fault. Most of the schools across America are lacking in comic book art instruction. Still, If you don't know what you're doing, don't tell anyone else how to do it!

This book "takes art to a whole new level?" What?! The artist's understanding of human anatomy and correct proportion is ghastly. Torsos are weirdly lengthened or turned out-of-porportion to the rest of the body, chests are almost humorous, arms spout from upper bodies like mismatched attachments, and buttocks hang like onions in underpants. Faces are so generic they're interchangeable, except with variations on hairstyle. Apparently "great looking comic book women" are stereotypes that vary only in their decorative objectification: change the costume and the hair, and everything else is assembly-line rendered. Even the bare basics of human life drawing are absent in the book. The step-by-step processes aren't innovative, and are shown with MUCH better results in "real" art books. This is for guys who want to scratch out semi-bizarre "babes" and not realize how goofy the creations actually look. Sorry to be harsh, but MAN, this anatomy is poor.

this book is an OK book, but it's not for beginners. the only thing this book does is give you ideas for what to draw not how to draw them. Christopher Hart shows some basics in the beginning but not enough for the first time artist. so if you are an experienced artist then this may be a good book for you but if you need a book on learning the basics, don't bother getting this one. and either way, you shouldn't buy this book brand new, buy it used instead, because it's not worth alot of money.

I love the Hart books because they seem to be an extention of the book "How to draw Comics the Marvel Way"..I think this guy must have read Marvel Comics and is showing us how he draws those Super Hero Women..It's covers everything from how to pose to how to place the figue on the page and making scenes look dramatic. As a cartoonist I have to say I will borrow heavily on his illustrations for reference and guidance.

There's no way this is good anatomy, just get any Marvel or DC comic from your bookshelf and you will notice the huge difference. the bodies are just weird looking. Sorry.

Illustrations should be a great help with vocabulary acquisition, in theory. But in practice, unless you limit yourself to nouns, it takes some real inspiration to illustrate abstract words.

There is little inspiration in this book. Check out "assiduous" for an example of the artist's failed attempts to make difficult words more memorable.

I would not recommend this book as a study aid to learn vocabulary words for several reasons. Although the book's front cover suggests that somehow visual cues provided by this book will help you learn vocabulary words such as duplicitous, fastidious, and heinous it did not seem like that when I read through this book. The illustrations all seem to come from the same artist and are not particularly pleasing to the eye, at least not my eye. The basic template for all the words in this book contains an illustration of one or two people. When the conversations will simply say a line that is supposed to remind you of the word (usually doesn't include the word) that is meant to be taught. You cannot look at any illustration alone and relate it to the word that is supposed to be taught. The way the book attempts to teach the words is through pnemonic techniques made up by somehow combine the word and an inkling of the definition. This is a terrible book for people over the age of 12. Just get yourself a regular vocabulary book and avoid the tragic attempted teaching style this book has used. With good enough net surfing you can find the actual helpful stuff this book has, such as crossword puzzles, online somewhere for free.

This book is the best vocabulary builder I have come across; it is great for the SAT. The Illustrated Word Smart has the added bonus of containg some GRE vocabulary as well. Visual space and creativity made it easy for me to learn 250 words in two weeks. My only problem is that there are not more difficult illustrated vocabulary books after this one.

The book has only about 250 - 300 words (250 are offered as key words which are illustrated and other related words are mentioned in a box underneath the illustration). Words are arranged in 17 sections and each section is followed by several drills where you can test your understanding of the words. At the end of the book are puzzles for more word fun.

Yeah, this book mught be useful if you have the vocabulary of a paper cup. I genuinely couldn't believe the words in this thing. Who is this for? Eleven-year olds? Seriously-AVOID.

I read this book when it came out and knew it would not be so funny when President Bush & Company finally captured Saddam Hussein. Today that question is answered; the joke is on political candidates, pundits and the author who doubted his capture using humor, but also on the American people in the end.

The book was complete political satire by others saying it was underground gibbet humor. When American sons and daughters are dying over real values needing changed in Iraq and the Arab world, nothing is funny. Yet, I find any speech needing to go underground in American not grounded in reality either.

Therefore, the book was just plain mean in the end, and even if you find it humorous, I doubt you will enjoy it, especially today since it is now quite wrong too.

Today, the real question is whether Saddam was captured or rescued after being held for the US$25 Million by is own family. A number of questions are raised by the disheveled, weary, and trodden state Saddam Hussein revealed in video upon his capture.

The public needs a new book answering many questions unlike this book, in my opinion.

Just looking at Saddam can see the simple facts. He was beaten, weak, and starving. The length of his hair and beard reveals no shampoo or shave for weeks. If he was simply using a clever disguise he did so quite poorly too, I might add.

Moreover, the hole dug in the floor of a cellar on the farm was one to keep him in it, not escape from it. It was only 6` by 8` at best and had no sanitary arrangements. There is no way Saddam could rise out of the hole without someone on the outside removing the mud and brinks that covered it. Thus, if Saddam is so clever, why did he not have a hole with a secondary means of escape?

I found it more interesting that two men with unused assault guns and a pistol and US$750,000 had no communications equipment meaning no one could ever warn them of anything.

If the FBI or anyone stumbled on them, it would seem he was actually a hostage being used for ransom. I will await someone else to write about this in another book.

This book of so-called gallows humor meant to hurt President George Bush for political fodder not hilarity did nothing for the author's crusade. The same can be said of the so-called capture of Saddam Hussein. Unlike this book we need a proper closing not laughing at ourselves!

This book was funny, but as of today, outdated. I am sure its price will go down now, as it quickly becomes a piece of nostalgia. It will be fun to have around for novelty's sake. Good for future generations to show them the debate that was going on in this country.

I came upon this book while serving in Baghdad and laughed out loud. Given the conditions under which we are living, any opportunity for a laugh is welcome. Especially for those of us with kids who have read so many of these "pop-up" books at bedtime, the wit and humor in an otherwise serious situation is a welcome break. I do understand and respect the views of those who found the book objectionable, but with respect, I disagree.

I first heard about Henry Beard's book when it came out and couldn't wait to buy it. I got sidetracked and then came across it again only very recently. Though the book is now dated in the sense that we (more or less) know where Saddam is, the humor is still there.
Henry Beard's aim is not to make light of our soldier's dying. It is to raise questions about the aims and policies of a President whose choices put them in harms way where they continue to be.
Beard is brilliant and his book is a gem. It is still worth reading.

This book is outrageous, all in style, language and contents and is written in extremely poor English.
Even Marquis de Sade - the French soldier and writer whose name is given to Sadism and who pretty much described the ideas of sexual perversions that prevailed in the eighteenth's century, would have disliked and avoided reading it.
I made a mistake and bought it.
Don't make the same mistake.

I got this for my husband who works with kids often, and he frequently teases and jokes with them using the cute stories in this book... it's a fun resource for sure!

This book was a complete and utter disappoint, not only to myself, but to every one of my coworkers who have picked it up. Each of them has asked me, "Did you REALLY pay money for this?" It is of no value. Not educational. Not entertaining. Not even a little bit interesting. Just dumb and nothing more. Don't buy it. Don't even read it if you see it lying around. You'll be wasting your time. The sequel is no better.

The perfect gift for new or soon-to-be parents with an open and dry sense of humor.

Andy Riley certainly isn't in the high quality non children aimed cartoon leagues of say Gary Larson (The Far Side) but this book will certainly releive the boredom, albeit only for ten minutes or so as there are not that many cartoons inside here.

It is very unlikely you would find kids stupid enough to beleive any of these lies within but I don't think they're meant to. The book is what it is, basic cartoons telling far fetched stories to tell kids or gullible adults.

"...her original programming will activate and she will kill all humans."

This caption runs underneath a picture of an elderly woman in a rocking chair reading, while a boy looks at her trepidatiously.

If you find this sort of thing amusing, I suspect that like me, you'll very much enjoy this book. These comics are sort of like a British youngsters version of Dan Piraro's excellent "Bizarro." By making things deliberately topsy-turvy, Andy Riley gets us to think about the world in a different way.

And that's a good thing.

Also recommended: Bizarro and Other Strange Manifestations of the Art of Dan Piraro

Once again, William Steig has broken out his stereotypical role as a children's writer. In this book, Stein professes not only the beauty of romantic love, but he also eloquently presents love as it is - a complicated mixture of pleasure and pain. Steig shows us all in this book, written for an adult audience, that true love endures all.

The title is deceptive. It is not romantic at all. The sketches are ugly and the lines are not sweet or loving. Example: "I would kill for you". I returned it. I had purchased it to give to my husband. I would never consider it a loving gift!!

This may be a good 'let's make-up' gift for a spouse or even a quirky valentine. I did find that the line, "We remain true to our vows", with the illustration of a couple sitting on a bench with an obvious rift between them, was contrary to what I would want to give, although with the right sense of humor this book may be hysterical. I also thought that the contradiction of "Our love is eternal" followed by "Till death do us part" unappealing. I don't consider this a children's book at all, despite it being from children's author William Steig.

While searching for a small Valentine's gift for my girlfriend I came across this book. The title, Made for Each Other, summed up my feelings in four simple words but the pictures and the short phrases througout the book really express the true meaning of love. Love can be hazy, shiny and even imperfect. This book captures the many aspects of love in a quirky, off-beat way that might not be endearing to some but to others it explains our heart.

The gift must have helped because she is now my fiance'!!

I gave this book to my husband for an anniversary present. The text is sweet and simple. It is everything I wanted to say to my dear husband. Much better than a Hallmark card. The illustrations in the fabulous style of William Steig are comical. To top it all, Mr. Steig dedicated the book to his wife Jeanne, (of course).

This is a kind and fluffy book: it makes no claims for itself but infiltrates a kind sense of compassion into the reader. Beyond rubies. buy it. You will kick yourself if you don't.

While this is a light hearted look at Buddhist Principles, I found it quite thought provoking. The format is cartoon line drawings with a short statement of Buddhist Principle on each page. Some pages will make you smile, others may cause you to pause and reflect. As a 'sheep collector', this is a must have book but I was pleasantly surprised by content after my purchase!

Short, cartoonish, and superficial. Little depth to this cute but insubstantial tome. Most memorable quote: "Karma means there is no escape." Occasionally humorous, it is finished in a flash. And, like dining on nouveau cuisine, it leaves you hungry for more.

While I commend the authors for making a cute cartoon comment on Buddhism and those we humans might think "beneath us" (sheep), this is not enough material for a book. It was a serious overexpenditure -- and in *hardback*, no less???

This would have made a cute Web site, no more. It takes literally five minutes to read.

I do not think the authors have ever had anything to do with real sheep, it is insulting.

Too expensive for what it is. The cartoons are only so-so. It does not have very many pages of cartoons.

Being an avid golfer and devotee of the New Yorker, I was surprisingly disappointed at the few real laughs in this collection

At least to me, reviewing an anthology of cartoons resembles reviewing a performance by Marcel Marceau. Just as you really had to be there to see the performance to appreciate his talent, you really have to see the cartoons to appreciate their creators' talent. So, what to say now? First, that I am avid golfer and thus have a special interest in this volume, one of several in a series. Also, I am a long-time subscriber to The New Yorker and had already seen most of Robert Mankoff's selections as editor. I just wish I had aged as well as they have. Finally, if you love both golf (which is "flog" spelled backwards) and a good laugh, and no one else has as yet purchased The New Yorker Book of Golf Cartoons for you, don't begin dropping hints resembling anvils and then eagerly await the next birthday, anniversary, or holiday. Treat yourself to a copy TODAY. Amazon enables you to check out several of Robert Mankoff's selections as editor. Meanwhile, here's an excerpt from the dust jacket: "Mark Twain called it 'a good walk spoiled.' Lee Trevino said it was the most fun he ever had with his clothes on. For duffers and pros alike, golf can be both a delight and a torment -- often on the same day, sometimes on the same hole." Been there, done that. And, alas, will no doubt do so again...and again...and again. Fellow duffers, however badly you may play, you can count on this volume to entertain you later...and thereby help you to have the right perspective when you golf and/or flog your way through the next round.

I searched and searched for a present for my golf-mad boyfriend, and this was by far the best golf book I could have bought him. Even I enjoy and can relate to the cartoons, fantastic buy and sits proudly on his bookshelf.

This book only lacks a knowledgeable introduction by a humorist, top golfer or pro, or cartoonist to make it a five-star offering.

To me, the best humor is one that captures the reality of how the viewer perceives life. In the case of The New Yorker Book of Golf Cartoons, every golfer will recognize her- or himself . . . and members of past foursomes.

Unlike most sports cartoons, these wonderful offerings provide both female and male perspectives as players. There's still the battle of the sexes around the missing male golfer, but not all cartoons are sex stereotyped . . . which I liked.

Here are a few of my favorites:

One guru with a long beard to another in front of cave overlooking a canyon as the second guru tees off: "If you're so enlightened, how come you can't lick that slice?" This reminded me of the section about Deepak Chopra in Who's Your Caddy?

With a tree lying between the ball and the pin, the caddy hands a saw to the golfer.

"The Male Biological Clock" shows a golfer thinking: "If I don't learn how to play golf by the time I'm forty-three, I'll never learn."

A golfer is thrashing behind a bush and birds and animals run pell-mell away from him.

"I am the Lady of the Lake, and because thou hast defiled my crystal waters I must hence smite thee. That or penalize thee a stroke. Your call." As you can imagine, most golfers would avoid the one stroke penalty.

Man races out the door carrying clubs says to wife, "Gotta run, sweetheart. By the way, that was one fabulous job you did raising the children."

A woman stands on a widow's walk atop her roof looking through a telescope towards a golf course.

One golfer to another as the second one takes his ball out of the cup, "Bankruptcy doesn't seem to have hurt your putting eye a bit, Pete."

One golfer to another as the second one wrestles with an alligator in a swamp, "Oh, for goodness' sake, forget it, Beasley. Play another one."

A man holds clubs next to a woman who's just finished her swing. The ball drops into the cup after two bounces. She asks, "Like so?" This reminded me of the time I took my mother to play golf for the first time, and she beat me on almost every hole after the first four. She quit the game in disgust that day, complaining that it was just too easy to be interesting.
Two golfers are thrashing through the high grass beyond the green looking for a lost ball. One turns to the other and says, "You know something, Jeff. There is one place we haven't looked." That's exactly what happened to me when I hit my hole-in-one to a blind green.

I could go on, but won't so that you'll have something to look forward to (other than your next round of golf). You can see that the cartoonists have a great sense of the game . . . that can only come from having struggled out on the links themselves.

This book will be a great gift for a parent who is a golfer for either Mother's Day or Father's Day.

Fore!!

Another Great book to visit the Patterson's with. "For Better / For Worse" has to be one of the best comic strips of all time. It really makes you think, "They are just like my family", and if you do not have kids, read the books so you know what to prepare for.

I collect paperback comic books - as opposed to "magazine" style - and, normally this would have been a delight, but this is a childrens' book; I was expecting a book roughly 100+ pages long, and this is a tiny one - not at all what I expected. My error though; I'll contribute to the local Children's Hospital, so that everyone wins!

It is a cute view for first time grandmothers. Something you can really relate to. Great Gift!!!

I love reading For Better or For Worse and buy the new ones whenever I find one but this book was small in size and only had a few sentences on every other page. I want more reading and laughs for $7.00 a copy.

I got this book thinking it was a comic book. I obviously didn't read the description carefully enough. This is basically a long poem about being a grandmother. I was disappointed at first, but not I think I'll give it to my mom when she becomes a grandma for the first time. I do think that it needs to be clear that this is not a comic. It is simply a poem that is illustrated with FBOW characters.