Sciencecartoonsplus

10/06/2024

Here is the latest book - of maybe two or three ever published - of cartoons about writers and writing:

‘Kafka Does Stand-Up: Cartoons on Books and Writers’.

Many of the cartoons first appeared in leading periodicals including The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker and Punch (U.K.), and one of the Shakespeare cartoons - there are several - was first published in Pl***oy.

The introduction is by Gertrude Stein, who is channeled by Tom Hachtman, a wonderful artist in the field of humor. It also has an introduction to the introduction, and neither mentions the book. (More Stein can be seen in Tom’s book ‘Gertrude’s Follies’ which, along with this book would be enjoyed by all readers and writers who would like a few - make that, many - laughs)

This book is not all Kafka. There are 42 noted authors depicted or mentioned, including Chekhov, Faulkner, Emerson, Melville, Gloria Steinem, Twain, Pynchon, Dickens and even Rosetta (writing the Rosetta Stone). Franz Schubert makes a cameo appearance in a conversation with Goethe.

There are also drawings of, and quotations by, several well-known writers. Dashiell Hammett’s may be the best. Although the Stephen King is wonderful. And the Toni Morrison and Chekhov are very insightful…