Linda H. Davis
Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life (2006)
Author: Linda H. Davis
Genre: Nonfiction (Biography)
Book Summary:
New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams created the famous Addams Family, as well as hundred of other morbid and strange cartoons (as well as plenty of normal ones). Linda Davis answers the burning question of what the man who created such strange cartoons was like. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he was rather normal, although he had some strange interests (visiting mental institutions for fun, collecting crossbows), and was constantly involved in affairs with beautiful women (often several at the same time).
Geographical Setting: United States
Time Period: 1912-1988
Appeal Characteristics:
Those interested in publishing, cartooning, or the Addams Family will get some interest out of this book, especially for those interested in the history of the New Yorker. Much of the book, though, is taken up with gossipy annecdotes about Addams's love life, and those who enjoy that sort of thing will find amusement here. Beyond that, A Cartoonist's Life will appeal to some fans of American history trivia, with bits of information about the famous women Addams had affairs with, and that he was related to the single-d Adams family of American politics, as well as reformer Jane Addams.
Read-alikes: The World of Charles Addams, Charles Addams. The largest collection I could find of Addams's cartoons. Anyone interested in Addams would be interested in this book (if he or she hasn't read it already). The Rejection Collection: Cartoons You Never Saw, and Never Will See, in The New Yorker, Matthew Diffee. Cartoons by good cartoonists, rejected for various reasons, often because they were too strange, too sick, too risque. If Addams's unprinted material amused you, this might too. (One reviewer described it as "the cream of the crap.") Ascending Peculiarity: Edward Gorey on Edward Gorey, Edward Gorey, edited by Karen Wilkin. Gorey's art portrays a world that's kissing cousins with Addams's -- dark, cobwebby houses, strange, geometric people, all in a distinctive, semi-cartoon style. This book explores the man behind the art. Wish I Could Be There, Allen Shawn. Shawn, the son of New Yorker editor William Shawn and brother of actor Wallace Shawn (the "Inconcievable!" guy from The Princess Bride) details his own, overwhelming phobias while dipping into his father's life (including his love life) and the life of the rest of his family. This is Orson Welles, Orson Welles and Peter Bogdanovich. Actor, director, and (here)raconteur Welles tells tales of his life (and other people's lives) at Bogdanovich's prompting. A gossipy book with a witty, idiosyncratic character at its center.
Red Flags: As mentioned above, this book is mainly gossipy annecdotes about the subject's love life. Those who go into it looking for "A Cartoonist's Life," as the title promises, will be disappointed. There is little about his cartooning or publishing in this book. In addition, there is no real narrative flow, and the writing is choppy. Additionally, those offended by off-color humor will not be amused by some of the unpublished work of Charles Addams.
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