Customer Reviews

Bizarro Among the Savages: A Relatively Famous Guy's Experiences on the Road and in the Homes of Strangers

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have no idea why this book is currently out of print; its just so darn good. Piraro draws the daily cartoon Bizarro, and this book tells the tale of his early life, adventures on a shoestring book tour, and wraps up with some stuff about his messy divorce. I didn't really expect the writing to be this good, but Piraro is sarcastic like a Dave Barry with stamina, and writes as densely as a humorous William Gibson, and ties the multiple themes together with the elegance of John Irving. This was also a very funny book and I find it a little odd that Piraro is an expert humorist in both visual and verbal mediums. He must have one weird brain. I highly recommend this book; its funny, unique, and well written.

Dan has a wounderfully warped sense of humor which really shines through in his work. His amazing writing keeps you laughing for most of the book. The momories he has of this trip and his past seem so outragous that they almost seem false, but he tells them so vividly that they couldn't be. I loved this book and have read it repeatedly, a great choice for anyone who likes his cartoon, and even those who don't.

Dan Piraro draws Bizarro, a daily nationally syndicated cartoon strip. It is a single panel strip in the same vein as Gary Larson's Far Side. Having said that, he is still an original with a very offbeat but funny sense of humor. This book is part autobiographical and part about his odyssey across the USA during a shoe-string budget book promotional trip. It is quite amusing. He describes his childhood, his erratic climb to his profession, and his current situation with a ironic almost detached bemusement. While many of the observations and insights are very funny, it helps if the reader knows his strip, and follows cartoons. Some of the observations about the habits of cartoonists, and their often sad lives are best appreciated in this light. Short Summary: funny book about a cartoonist life but will be even funnier to those who follow his strip and cartooning in general

I don't know if I've ever read a more enjoyable book than "Bizarro Among The Savages." I couldn't go two pages without laughing out loud. I commend Mr. Piraro for not taking the easy way out and making fun of the people he stayed with on his book tour. Rather, he seems to have a gift for connecting with people and realizing the good points of anybody. He also doesn't pull any punches when talking about his own spiritual/emotional journey, and I applaud him him for his openness and frankness.

This is a great book! Even if you've never read his comic strip, read this book!

This book catalogues the (mis) adventures of a cartoonist doing a book tour on the cheap by enlisting the aide of his fans. The stories are amusing, spiced up by Dan Piraro's quirky, clever sense of humour, much like his single panel comic. Much self-deprecation abounds, no tangent is left unexplored, no pop culture references are omitted, and much lighthearted fun awaits the reader. In the process you do end up with some sense of who this person is, and what his life has been like to date. Recommended for those who enjoy his comic or like clever, offbeat, and, sometimes, even downright bizarre, humour.

I have just read Dan Piraro's book after meaning to do so for months. It didn't disappoint. I love this guy's cartoons and have followed them for years; I am happy to report that he is just as good a writer as he is a cartoonist.

One caveat - I actually expected more cartoons in the book, and there are very few. But he has so much to write about that this isn't a significant flaw by any means. He goes all over the map from "On the Road" type stuff to bio, and it's all good. I wasn't sure what to expect about the Pat Sajak/guardian angel stuff, but I did not find it intrusive or exceptionally weird.

Overall, I highly recommend this book as a companion to Piraro's comics.

The "author" tries too hard to be funny, all the while with a very egocentric attempt in disecting his wreck of a marriage; trying vehemently to secure his readers pity. Advice: Stick with cartooning. And personally: It Takes two to tango.