Charles Addams Books

This is a great book. It's a nice mix of the ones we remember as children and a few more we wouldn't readily remember.
This is for the child who has a healthy appreciation for the art of Edward Gorey and the humor for Monty Python and love Lon Chaney. Trust me, there are these children out there, they really are under the age of 8 and they are very hard to buy books for.
What's really wonderful, for the adults who are finding their lives now revolve around reading stories to small children who remain illiterate, this book offers a lovely change from the norm. Honest to god, If I have to read one more Pretty pony story I am going to hunt that pony down....
I recommend it for children of all ages, even if you dont' have your own, it's just so worth having.

With the recent publication of Random House's, "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life", by Linda H. Davis, rival publishers appear to be looking to their own overstocked warehouses to take advantage of this newest Addams literary craze. At least, that's how I'm interpreting the sudden reappearance of books like Simon and Schuster's, "The Charles Addams Mother Goose", which originally made its republished debut back in 2002, onto our bookstore shelves. Not that I mind, of course. Any republication of the Addams repertoire is fine with me, and had S&S not started sending out this book once again I never would have known what a fine complement C.S.A. made to some of the darker nursery rhymes out there. Mother Goose books come and go, but if you want to go for the memorable, the dark, and the amusing then there really is only one title you should even begin to consider. And it sports a Stephen King by-line on the cover.

Told in about 28 different nursery rhymes, "The Charles Addams Mother Goose" is everything you might expect from that most famous of New Yorker cartoonists. Here you can find all your favorites word-for-word, accompanied by the most peculiar of pictures. The mouse from "Hickory Dickory Dock" takes on enormous proportions. Jack Sprat and his wife seem to have eating habits outside of what we might consider the norm. Even the three blind mice are included, though the carving knife is now of the electric variety. The familiar Addams family characters do indeed make an appearance in some of these poems, and always in a fashion that seems tailor made for them. Plus it takes a kind of genius to be the illustrator who decides that the reason all the kings horses and all the kings men couldn't put Humpty Dumpty together again was because out of Humpty hatched a baby dragon/dinosaur/scaly creature. Certainly the unique Addams brand is clear and present in every pic.

Kids who read this book, and there will be quite a few, may find themselves in later years wholly unable to separate Addams' vision from certain peculiar rhymes. Take, for example, that old chestnut "Solomon Grundy". Entirely apart from the fact that his name is now synonymous with a Batman villain, his story here is told in seven/eight panels. "Solomon Grundy, Born on Monday, Christened on Tuesday, Married on Wednesday, Took ill on Thursday, Worse on Friday, Died on Saturday, Buried on Sunday. This is the end of Solomon Grundy." Addams really takes the poem even further, though. His Grundy resembles a slightly undersized and grumpy Uncle Fester. And once he's, "Died on Saturday", his body resembles nothing so much as a cloud of dirty air. Then, wonderfully inexplicably, that same dirty air is put into a corked bottle and thrown into the sea with the line, "Buried on Sunday." It's this kind of random twist on old stand-bys that gives this collection just the right burst of original peculiarity. I'm not even gonna go into the eyedropper of holy water on the second panel or the mysterious mushrooms that grow out of Solomon's head on Thursday.

So which poem wins the Most Likely To Disturb Already Wary Adults Award? It's a toss-up, to my mind, between "Mistress Mary, quite contrary" and "Wee Willie Winkie". On the outset, neither poem seems particularly dark. In "Mistress Mary" however, an unhealthy waif of a woman with dark-lidded eyes and a lifeless expression waters mushrooms in a darkened basement. Lit only by a single bare lightbulb, the mushrooms have begun to sprout feminine heads, each with the creepy cheer of a babydoll's face. The picture looks almost institutional, what with the pale blond's stare into nothingness and the mushrooms' eerie plastered smiles. Compare that, however, to "Wee Willie Winkie". In that picture a boy and girl stare aghast at a window where a ghoul in a nightcap stares unblinkingly at them, his right hand ah-rapping at the pane. The whole picture is tinted a sickly green and blue and you've the feeling that the little boy who is not in bed could be in for some trouble soon.

When you get right down to it, however, maybe the most disturbing part of this book is the Foreword written in 2001 by "Mrs. Charles Addams". In this section, the woman gives a bit of context to the original publication. It came out in the midst of Vietnam. It could be credited to two equally possible sources. But Mrs. Addams goes even further and finds in Charles's work an odd source of, of all things, comfort. "How wonderful to find a dinosaur inside Humpty Dumpty, rather than worrying that he had fallen and couldn't be repaired. Or being reassured that the old woman who lived under the hill had all the comforts of a real home and was better for it." You'll note that she makes no mention of the vampiric Doctor Fell who's poem reads, "I do not like thee, Doctor Fell" or the leather-clad specter of death that shakes hand with a little girl by a graveyard. Countering such an Intro, however, is the remarkable "Mother Goose Scrapbook" compiled at the end of the book. In it we see a poem that "for reasons unknown" was pulled from the original book moments before publication. In it, a worried shepherd holds open the doors of a fallout shelter as his lambs pelt past him into the darkness. A mushroom cloud erupts in the distance. Says the poem, "A red sky at night is a shepherd's delight. A red sky in the morning is a shepherd's warning." Since we've already determined that the book came out in 1967, I doubt the reason for the deletion is all that mysterious at all. Other choice details include New Yorker covers, photographs, book jackets, and even a drawing Charles made at the age of four.

Charles Addams has a following not too dissimilar to the Edward Gorey fans out there. This collection, however, demands to be owned by people outside of the regular obsessives. You can't say that Addams' visions of these nursery rhymes are anything but logical extrapolations. What's more, after repeated viewings they insinuate themselves into your unconscious. I'll never hear "This is the house that Jack built" without visions of knives, bulldogs, and dirty rats again. And I'm okay with that. A must-have purchase for anyone with a penchant for the peculiar.

In 1973 I was in second grade, and this was my favorite book to check out of the library. The only problem was, it was also a lot of other kids favorite too! I was always on the waiting list for it!!! The illustrations have been in my mind for over 30 years, and several years ago I tried to purchase it, only to find it out of print. I was so excited to find it recently rereleased. I now have my own copy, and am as fascinated by it today, as I was in second grade. The pictures are awesome, and show the true stories at the dark heart of nursery rhymes!!!It's a creepy little safe scare for adults and children alike. A really great book!

As only Chas Addams can do, the innocent nursery rhymes take on new meaning with these wonderfully ghoulish illustrations proving that a picture is worth more than a thousand words. I first read this book in the bookstore when I was 9 and purchased it with my saved allowance. I still have it and re-read it once per year. Sometimes I wonder if Chas Addams succeeded in capturing the soul of these well known verses better than any illustrator ever has. I recommend you purchase this book, light a fire on a stormy autumn evening and enjoy this book by candlelight with your own little fiends.

I was so pleased to find a re-print of this, the Mother Goose of my childhood. Yep, my parents gave me this Charles Addams -- and I've never been quite right since.
The hours I spent poring over pictures of the cadaverous Wee Willie Winkie, the Frankenstein-esque Dr. Fell, and little Wednesday Addams skipping rope alone, under a single streetlight . . . all these wonderful frissons were restored to me with this re-issue. Mother Goose wears Chuck Taylors!
If you love Gorey, Burton, and Lynch, you'll love the "Charles Addams Mother Goose."

My dad and Charlie were in business during their undergraduate days at UPenn. Dad would go out and take orders and Charlie would draw custom Christmas "and other special occasion" cards. I thought this was pretty neat. Nearing his deathbed, my dad finally confessed the he'd go out and take very specific instructions, gather photos, descriptions, etc. and bring other sordid details back to Charlie, who would then draw "pornographic" cards based on those orders. That revelation got me looking at Wednesday in a whole new light! It was enjoyable to read that Charlie was like that all his life.

One of the most commonly asked questions of cartoonists is, "Where do you get your ideas?"

And of course when the cartoonist is Charles Addams, this question leads to unrivaled speculation and disinformation, which over the years created its own brand of peculiar mythology.

Now comes an impressive new biography by Linda H. Davis. In "Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" Davis takes on the stories that Addams slept in a coffin and drank martinis with eyeballs in them. Instead, what emerges is a surprising portrait of an amazing artist who led a full and colorful life.

Yes, Addams certainly had quirks and odd obsessions. But he was also universally loved, and so charming that he dated the likes of such luminaries of his time as Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine and Jackie Kennedy Onassis (along with untold numbers of others). He drank hard, raced cars, and no party or social gathering was considered complete without him. His fan base ran the gamut from the criminally insane to Sean Connery and Alfred Hitchcock.

In this first ever biography of the subject, Davis charts Addams' meteoric rise and more than 50-year career as the most esteemed cartoonist at The New Yorker. With his cartoons, Addams became a significant cultural force by combining horror and humor, a genre that continues to flourish today. His impact and influence on generations of cartoonists is impossible to calculate, but it's fair to say that Gary Larson's Far Side would not have existed without him.

Addams' own unique creation of The Addams Family began as print cartoons which went on to inspire a popular TV series, animated cartoons and two Hollywood feature films. With these characters, Addams provided role models for eccentrics and nonconformists everywhere. The message of the Addams Family was simple: Namely that love and laughter can--and does-- flourish everywhere, even within families and social groups that seem outside society's norms.

An esteemed biographer whose previous subjects have included Stephen Crane and Katherine White, Davis spent over six years on this book and interviewed more than 130 persons who knew Addams well, or as well as anyone could. Although Addams died in 1988, Davis had exclusive access to his personal effects and papers that had been in the possession of his wife Tee until her death in 2004. Addams' two other wives also participated in helping Davis to define the man nicknamed "Chill" by his friends.

Davis provides a wealth of detail, but wisely avoids drawing hard conclusions or offering up pseudo-psychoanalysis. Instead, the dichotomy between the artist's urbane and cheerful public persona and his morbidly dark humor are presented in a way that leaves the reader, if nothing else, even more appreciative of Addams' depth, genius and mystery.

With this approach Davis reframes the question of "where" Addams got his ideas to that of "why." Addams was unlike anyone else, and so it is only natural that his ideas would be unlike those of others. As for why he was the way he was, that's a question Addams seems to have taken to the grave with him. In "A Cartoonist's Life" we see that just as one question is put to rest, another rises up - a conclusion that Addams himself would have no doubt enjoyed.

Who was Chas (Charles) Adams? While you won't know by the time you finish this revealing biography, you'll certainly expand beyond the line sketch you probably have now of his life. If you are a New Yorker fan, you'll know him from his hundreds of cartoons and dozens of covers that expressed a most unique and other worldly perspective. If you are a fan of celebrities, you may know more about him as someone who drove classic cars, dated high-profile women, and favored allusions to death and dying. If you are a classic television fan, you'll know that his cartoon characters were the foundation for The Addams Family. If you favor camp, you know about his armor collection, his preferences for cross-bows, and other lethal items which he liked to display in public.

The biography also reveals a kindly man who was patient with everyone, including those he didn't particularly like. You'll also learn of his fascination with the Morticia appearance (based on having married two women who met the bill). More surprisingly, you'll find him to have been victimized by his second wife . . . even long after they were no longer married. The book also portrays a heterosexual version of Truman Capote who fascinated many of the most desirable women.

Most pleasingly, Ms. Davis does a delightful job of portraying the development of his cartooning style and art . . . including dozens of prime examples that are well reproduced. Even when there's no reproduction, Ms. Davis is good at capturing the essence of an image in a few words. She also provides a history of 20th century New Yorker cartooning, including how many of the final cartoons represented the influences of many people other than the artist who signed the final version.

While each of those aspects is well and thoroughly portrayed, the core of the man doesn't quite make it through. Addams seems like a case of arrested development in many ways, but his willingness to be kind and considerate of others displays greater maturity than his preferences for self-indulgence and his cartooning approach suggest. In today's world, he would clearly be just another clever self-promoter . . . except that his stunts seemed aimed at creating joy rather than a higher income. Clearly, he didn't take himself too seriously, yet he did take his work seriously. Ms. Davis has, however, done readers and cartoon fans a great service by writing this biography which will undoubtedly stir up other sources and perspectives to flesh out the man who shortened his first name because it looked better that way on a cartoon.

Addams has always been my favorite cartoonist and I snatched a copy of this book as soon as I saw it. Reading this book led me to have even more admiration for this man, who had a rather energetic personal life (although not of the sort some might imagine) and who also served in the Army as, what else, an illustrator.

A must-have for anyone interested in Addams' work and a damn good read even if you aren't. Also, I thought the cartoons picked to illustrate the book were a perfect for this work.

"Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life" is a warm and tenderly written biography in which the essence of the man behind the dark side of his cartoons is gently exposed. Author Linda H. Davis has offered a comprehensive look into Charles Addams's life and it has a few surprises.

Addams, born into relative prosperity in Westfield, New Jersey just prior to World War I, could have lived a rarefied life (and in some ways he did) were it not for his penchant for seeing the world in a different way from most of us. Davis points out that Addams, although never admitting to liking children and never having any of his own, nonetheless gravitated toward children at parties and visits to friends' homes. He was wildly popular with the children he got to know and that childlike quality is evident in the cartoons he drew. He disliked the word "macabre" in describing his work and as the author points out there is never any outward blood and gore in his cartoons. The ghoulishness is implied and having been treated to several of Addams's cartoons in this book I would agree with Addams himself....his best cartoons are uncaptioned.

Charles Addams's personal life was another matter. Married three times, his second wife, Barbara Colyton, had the most and longest lasting effect on him. Control and money were her issues and she dominated the cartoonist for years after their divorce. Yet as Davis points out, Addams never had too much of an axe to grind with her or other women in his life. Indeed, he had many women as confidants...something most men eschew.

It is surprising to see how little money Addams made in his life, relatively speaking. He seemed to care about other things and one of the great loves of his life was his dog, Alice. Remarkably, too, Addams lived in an age where, at the New Yorker at least, cartoonists were mostly given ideas from which to draw something. It appears that his originality came later rather than earlier in his career.

Linda Davis has done a fine job in taking us through the life of this wonderfully warm, if complicated man. As his friend, the writer Philip Hamburger remarked on Addams's death in 1988, "Charles Addams was 'sui generis'". Without a doubt he must have been. I think Addams would have been a lovely dinner guest, replete with humor and full of attentive, quiet listening to his fellow guests. I wish I had met him.

you've got to get this book and check out page 97 - tell me what you think.

If you're even a remotely Addams family or cartoon fan, you wouldn't have to read these reviews. Just buy it!

If you are a fan of black humor, then these cartoons are for you. This book contains many of his "Addams Family" cartoons, but there is MUCH more in there as well. A collection of classic cartoons that will have you rolling read after read!

AAAHHHHHH. Now this is an art book. Experience the dark and clever world of Charles Addams in this once-in-a-lifetime treasury of high-quality images. Finally, a masterful collection of his work. Addams' widow, Tee, should be proud of this book, which she assembled, in tribute to good ol' Charlie. God rest his soul.

Charles Addams was the man behind hundreds of delightful and dastardly illustrations for the prestigous New Yorker. Here, in one volume, are 300 of his best pieces. Included are several pictures involving the all together kooky Addams family and the macabre events that to them seem so normal. It is from these illustrations that the popular televison series, The Addams Family, emerged. And if you ever watched and liked the show, you'll love the cartoons it was based on. A great book for the coffee table!

I love these Engagement Calendars, they have lots of room to keeps notes, appointments and thoughts for each day... the clever cartoons and or pretty pictures are an added plus!

"Even if you know his name only from the 1960s television series or the 1990s movies that transformed his unique creations into icons of pop culture, you will undoubtedly recognize Charles Addams' cartoons. Until his death in 1988, Addams spent most of his long career contributing to The New Yorker, helping to forge the magazine's distinctive brand of cultivated zaniness and leaving an indelible mark on twentieth-century American humor.

"Although he depicted a wide range of subjects, from wisecracking animals to scenes of unconventional domesticity, Addams had a particular knack for combining the mundane and the macabre into hilarious images. His devilish wit found ultimate expression in the recurrent characters who first appeared in a 1937 work: the hauntingly elegant mistress of a dilapidated manse and her misshapen butler, followed in later drawings by the rest of the ghoulish Addams Family. This calendar pays tribute to the offbeat, enduring humor of Charles Addams with 32 classic cartoons--some in color, some featuring the Addams Family, and some never before published.

"112 page, spiral-bound weekly engagement calendar with 32 cartoons and clear plastic covers. Size: 6 5/8 by 8". Calendar features 53 weekly grids, 12 full-page monthly grids, and double-page spreads of yearly grids for 2006 and 2007. Includes international holidays, calling codes, time differences, personal information page, and pages for notes. ISBN 0-7649-3035-4. Click on the small picture to see an inside page."--© Pomegranate

Even people who are not fans of morbid humor laugh at the cartoons of Charles Addams. The absurdity and incongruity of his characters will draw a smile from even the most stiff-lipped and sophisticated of persons. This collection has some of the best that he has ever inked. Some of my favorites are:

*) Where two men are tying a third to a track and a woman on a nearby hill says, "It may be none of my business, but there hasn't been a train over that line in eight years."
*) A crowd is watching a movie and there are tears on nearly all the faces. However, an Addams character is laughing heartily.
*) A man is sleeping outside in a hammock and a storm is brewing. His wife is connecting him to the lightning rod on the house.
*) The editor of a magazine called "The Outdoor Boy" is sitting in a chair in his office. He is trying to commit suicide by shooting himself in the head with a slingshot.

There is no one more morbidly funny than Charles Addams, he can take the most absurd and disgusting thoughts and make them hilarious.

This 1950 collection is perhps a tad less sophisticated than some of his later work. But there are classics here that have stuck in my mind for at least that half-century. Who can forget
"George, George, drop the keys!" Or the mothballed captain on the bridge of the mothballed warship? Or the ghoul (later dubbed Uncle Fester) laughing as others weep in the movie theater?

I had to have this book. It is classic literature that won't be found in any prescribed reading list. I bought it for my grandchildren.

John Culleton
Rowse Reviews

"Twenty-six years gone, Charles Addams remains an immediately recognized master of the mordantly hilarious single-panel cartoon. His 1934 Downhill Skier (ski tracks diverging around a tree, then rejoining in their parallel course) is recalled with pleasure by people who weren't yet born when it was published. This calendar presents a mix of Addams' trademark ominous black-and-gray ink wash cartoons and colorful (yet still portentous) New Yorker cover art. A great gift for the ghoulish! ¶ 12 x 13" wall calendar (opens to 12 x 26") with twelve color and black-and-white reproductions. ISBN: 0-7649-3078-8. Click on the small picture to see the back cover."--© Pomegranate

There's not as much difference between the two Addams Chronicles editions as there is with the two Munsters books. But the added info and color photos make this Addams Chronicles the definate one to own.

I really loved the Addams family and this book brought it all back. Great info on what happened to each member after the family ended. If you're a fan it's a must read.

I loved the first edition of this book so much that I HAD to buy the revised edition! This is a must-have for all Addams Family fans! Stephen Cox makes you feel like you're part of the family!

Will we ever again see a TV show as full of nonconformity, deep dark humor, and head-scratching eccentricity as the Addams Family? I doubt it. This book is a treasure trove of trivia and collector's info for Addams geeks worldwide. Stephen Cox is as knowledgeable an enthusiast as you could hope for, though his writing could use some work. That's usually not a problem in a fun trivia book like this, though when it comes to cultural analysis he does get in over his head sometimes. Examples are his weak attempts to compare the show to the French playwright Moliere, or to explain the deep cultural significance of Gomez's love for cigars. But otherwise, you'll learn some great Addams TV tidbits here, like who played Thing (Ted Cassidy, better known for playing Lurch), and who did Cousin Itt's voice (soundman Tony Magro). You also may not have known that the pig who played Pugsley's frighteningly alive piggy bank also played Arnold on Green Acres. The only real problem with this book is the very quick and rather uninformative biographies of the stars. With the exception of Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester), most of the actors get bios that are only two or three pages long. But in the end, I'm especially happy to learn that I'm not the only one who thinks that Carolyn Jones as Morticia was quite sexy, rather than creepy. [~doomsdayer520~]

"The Addams Chronicles" is a wonderful book that delves into the nooks and crannies of one of the best, most thought out and well crafted TV shows ever produced. The cast histories, behind-the-scenes stories and color photos are exhilarating. The chapter on the ravishingly beautiful Carolyn Jones who played Morticia is way way too short.

This is where the characters that would later become "The Addams Family" got their start. Charles Addams with his unique sense of humor sheads a light on the dark side of humor. With whacky commementary on such light subjects such as suiside,murder and marrige, Mr. Addams never seemed to be without his tounge securly lodged in his cheek or was it bitten off? Oh well one never can tell what might come to mind after spending quality time in HIS mind! Anyone who loves the numerous shows or movies based on these hilarious cartoons owes it to themselves to see just where it all began!

An interesting book, but not what I expected. I was hoping for a collection of original Addams Family cartoons. Instead the book is almost exclusively cartoons of middle aged spouses trying to murder each other. Many of them are quite amusing, but if you want the Addams family characters you will need to look elsewhere. There is also some nudity on some of the cartoons, which may be inappropriate for some (I bought this for my teenage nephew but abandoned the idea after perusing the book).

These are hilarious! It's morbid humor without being morbid - it's hard to explain, but I can tell you this, this are wonderful! You will not be disappointed - everyone loves these cartoons.

Is a good compilation of charles Addams works. With this book we have a wonderful view for the most important topics of this important american creator.

This little book with fill your hunger for the macabre and your stomach at the same time. What a deal. Good Eats!

This is a fun little book showing off Chas Addam's morbid sense of humor. There are a few of his famous cullonary cartoons, but most of the cartoons are previously unpublished rough drafts. This is definately a from the personal archives and not a best of book. My main gripe about this tome is that it only features 10 pages of odd-ball recipes. I was hoping for something a little meatier in depth.

It's nice to have Charles Addams back in print. Addams' original Simon and Schuster collections are classics and now long out-of print, not to mention pricey on the secondary market. This book brings together some classic cartoons, plus some newly-published material, interlaced with creepy, but very real recipes from obscure vintage publications. Addams would most definitely have approved these selections, they are so precisely in tune with the Addams sensibility - reminiscent of his book "Dear Dead Days" which combined Addams cartoons with a scrapbook of macabre photos and clippings. This is just the culinary version! I'm not bothered by the fact that many of the new cartoons are "roughs", it provides a fascinating glimpse into Addams' work process. It's about time that new Addams product was put out, and this plus the recent reissue of "Chas. Addams' Mother Goose" are encouraging. Highly recommended, I'm off to make Mushrooms Fester!

it just hit me this is the real mr. addams; the inspiration of one of my favorite old tv shows; the addams family! it turns out he's from new jersy and attended the university of pennsylvania, and the grand central school of art in nyc. his original fame was as a cartoonist for the new yorker magazine. so if you thought you saw this style of art somewhere else, you did. comparison with gary larsen is apt, but addams came first; by my calculations he'd be in his mid 70's now. his concepts are just great. we all owe a huge debt of gratitude for all his wonderfull stuff down through the years whether television or cartoon. thanks for this book specially, a real laugh and half, perfect for that gloomy fall day.

Fifty years later I still quote and enjoy the classic cartoons of Addams. This is later Addams, and there are more hits than misses in this 1954 collection. About half the cartoons lack captions.

John Culleton
Rowse Reviews

Why not explore this side of your psyche? Imagine a train, with two people looking out the window, seeing the landscape pass by. A large box with the words "LIONEL" looms in the distance...

Is that to your taste? If it is, you'll like this:

A man on his knees with his head in the oven, a suicide note pinned to his jacket on the chair. In the background, the landlady enters shouting,"Mr. Mitchell, you know you don't have kitchen privileges!"

Yes, they are all this twisted. I hope you'll buy and enjoy...