Book Review: The Peanuts Papers, edited by Andrew Blauner

The Peanuts Papers: Writers and Cartoonists on Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the Gang, and the Meaning of Life
edited by Andrew Blauner (741.59 Pea)

If you love “Peanuts”, Charles Schulz’s life’s work about a boy, his dog, and their world of little folks with grown-up sensibilities, you may like this collection of essays by other cartoonists, artists, and esteemed authors such as Umberto Eco and Ann Patchett – 33 in fact. What is clear is that the influence of these fictional characters made of few lines and copious observations on life is far-reaching and, in many cases, of lasting comfort and inspiration. From analyses of Lucy’s Psychiatric Booth to reverence for the economuy with which Schulz could convey complex emotions, to a declaration that Peanuts was as culturally significant in its way as the Beatles were in theirs. If you love Peanuts, you will want to take a look at this. And even if you don’t love Peanuts, it may get you to appreciate what it meant and still means to millions of other people.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try A Charlie Brown Christmas: The Making of a Tradition, by Lee Mendelson, Snoopy’s Guide to the Writing Life, by Charles M. Schulz, The Gospel According to Peanuts.]

[publisher’s official The Peanuts Papers web page ] | [ Andrew Blauner biography on the Blauner Books site ]

Recommended by Becky W.C.
Walt Branch Library

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