Book By Its Cover

5.12.08
What it is
Lynda Barry

You may have noticed a new ad popped up on the blog of the cover of the new Lynda Barry book I am about to review. The book is available now from Drawn and Quarterly and you should get your hands on one as soon as possible. It’s gorgeous. Between auto-biographical comics are these incredible collages that ask questions that will confuse your creative brain like- “What is an image?” or “Can we imagine something that we can’t remember?” Lynda’s comic-drawn self says “The thing I call ‘my mind’ seems to be kind of a landlord that doesn’t really know its tenants.” Through these pages, filled to the brim with funny drawings, comic anecdotes from her past and collaged bits of books, stamps and childhood writing, Lynda explores herself as an artist and challenges you to do the same. The back of the book even has some activities you can try to get your imaginative ideas flowing like making a word bag - you collect a bunch of words and pick blindly from the bag to spark a thought. When I look up Lynda Barry on Wikipedia, it calls her “one of the most successful non-mainstream American cartoonists” because of her weekly comic strip Ernie Pook’s Comeek and her numerous publications. Her book The Good Times are Killing Me was even made into a play. Check out more about Lynda on a fan-made site here and pick up a copy of this book right here.

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14 Comments
05/12/08  11:48am
Kat wrote

Thanks for this review. I will definitely be buying the book!
05/12/08  11:53am
Austin Kleon wrote

Book of the year…maybe the century so far. Lynda is a total genius. Everyone go out and buy it NOW!
05/12/08  12:25pm
kelly wrote

I have been waiting over two years for this book!!!
I can’t wait!!!!!!
05/12/08  2:59pm
Green Key wrote

I so adore Lynda Barry! I’ve read everything she’s published that I could get my hands on. I am so excited about this book. She always inspires me with her many talents and gifts - above all her genuineness.
05/12/08  3:41pm
Abi wrote

I am so excited about this book! The Times just had a video interview with Linda Barry, and it was the first time I’d actually seen her outside her comics, and my love grew even deeper. When you’re feeling better we should get yakitori in the Village, and Dave and I can get this at St. Mark’s Books. I imagine it has a place of honor on the front table.
05/13/08  5:48am
julia wrote

thanks abi–

ps. nytimes profile- amazing!
05/13/08  9:09am
janis wrote

Lynda Barry is so amazing. Her stories can make me laugh, then touched and teary. I cannot put down a book once I begin reading. Thanks Julia - catch you on Design Sponge!
05/13/08  10:59am
kelly wrote

Got the book yesterday-RUN, do not walk to your local bookstore.

I love the size, too!!!!
05/15/08  10:55am
Elaine wrote

This cover made me click through. I like the layout of your site.
05/17/08  6:21pm
sosser wrote

love everything lynda barry does! so so glad this is out! been coveting it for too long… where is that credit card?!!
05/20/08  8:28am
Sara Hansson wrote

This is SO inspiring! Thank you.
05/21/08  7:49am
m. heart wrote

i ordered a copy of this book seconds after seeing your post on it, and it just arrived last night. i don’t think i’ve ever seen a book so jammed-packed with intriguing things to look at and read. thanks!
06/1/08  2:46pm
Antje wrote

I ordered this book as well, one minute after I read this post here…
It tells you so many things, and in a second you remember how it was to be and feel as a child, how you saw the world as a child, and makes you realize that somewhere along the way there was a transition we all forgot about.
Her style of telling so is incredibly creative and exciting.
06/22/08  9:10am
linda sarah wrote

Thank you for writing this review. This is such an amazing book - really beautiful. It’s a book to get lost in - and find new paths to explore and re-discover old lost ones - utterly magical.

I love this site too - it’s wonderful!

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