The Acme Novelty Datebook (Hardcover)

by Chris Ware (Author) "PERIODIZE IT IN MATERIALLY TEXTUAL WAYS..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Prolific alternative-comics artist Ware follows his epic, Jimmy Corrigan (2000), and Quimby the Mouse [BKL S 1 03] with a collection of sketchbook pages. Ware owes his lofty reputation largely to his awesome command of the "grammar" of comics, and this handsome volume showcasing his drawing ability amounts to something of a new revelation. Ware's strips are so meticulous in their rigid perfection that they seem to indicate an obsessive character. Yet these hundreds of life drawings, cityscapes, doodles, preliminary sketches, and other drawings, rendered in an impressive variety of styles, contrarily display unexpected spontaneity and looseness. Particularly revelatory are a handful of actual strips in Ware's familiar multipanel approach, and featuring Jimmy, Quimby, and other characters from his long stories, that are rendered in a rougher, almost crude style. Ware's fans will find his marginal notes fascinating, too, for their revelations about his creative process. Besides showing off Ware's facility and variety, this beautifully designed book demonstrates just how much thought and planning go into his acclaimed graphic novels. Gordon Flagg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"WARE'S USE OF WORDS IS SPARING, AND AT TIMES MAUDLIN. BUT THE REAL JOY IS HIS ART. IT'S STUNNING. IN TERMS OF ATTENTION TO DETAIL, GRACEFUL USE OF COLOR, AND OVERALL DESIGN--WARE HAS NO PEER. HIS DRAWINGS, SOMEHOW, REMAIN DELICATE AND ACHINGLY LYRICAL."

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly; 1st edition (August 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1896597661
• ISBN-13: 978-1896597669
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #344,986 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An very personal glimpse at an amazing artist..., August 5, 2003

By	cory combs (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

I found this book very inspiring and entertaining. To my non-trained eyes, even his rough sketches are amazing. And the journal entries are intense to read. In publishing this sketchbook, he seems unafraid to show us his most private moments of self doubt and insecurity. It was surprising to me that someone this talented could be such a harsh critic of his own work. That's probably what keeps his work so unique. There's lots to check out in this very cool book.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Monster talent!, October 23, 2005

By	A. McDonald (New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book is a record of an absolute monster drawing talent!
It collects tentative investigations, as a scrapbook of ideas and odds and ends. The amazing thing about it is its vitality.
Anything and everything becomes a source of inspiration and investigation into the nature of drawing. A coffee cup, a telephone in a waiting room, a washing machine, such mundane things seem to begin as notations but are transformed by Ware's observation of line and tone into their inner vitality - much like Van Gogh's peasant shoes. There are beautiful portraits. And beyond the observed notes, the book is positively brimming with characters, mutations, and cartoons from his eccentric imagination. The fantastical musings and the observed notations blend, merge together, separate like DNA strands through the book, adding up to a rich record of creativity

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Shows Chris as the true artist that he is, January 13, 2007

By	P. Flannigan "fliznizzey" (Edgewater, Colorado) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I didn't think I would like this one. But after owning everything else the man ever made, I asked for this one for x-mas. Wow! I love it! There are spontaneous portraits of people on the bus, views from friend's rooftops, the rudiments of strips like: God, Jimmy the robot etc...
If you are a Chris Ware fan YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK! If you are not familiar with Chris, best to start somewhere else.