Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper [Paperback]

Aaron McGruder (Author)

Book Description

Series: Boondocks | Publication Date: August 1, 2000

The Boondocks took the syndication world by storm. The notoriety landed Boondocks creator Aaron McGruder in publications ranging from Time magazine to People magazine which named him one of the "25 Most Intriguing People of '99. Centered around the experiences of two young African-American boys, Huey and Riley, who move from inner-city Chicago to the suburbs (or the "boondocks" to them), the strip fuses hip-hop sensibilities with Japanese anime-style drawings and a candid discussion of race. Funny yet revealing, the combination of superb art and envelope-pushing content provides one of the most unique strips ever.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

McGruder has become a widely heard and respected commentator on race, politics, and entertainment. The cartoonist was born in Chicago but grew up in racially diverse Columbia, Maryland. The Boondocks first saw print in the student newspaper at the University of Maryland where he majored in Afro-American studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing; Original edition (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740706098
• ISBN-13: 978-0740706097
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 8.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #275,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Needed Now more than ever in a Bush administration, January 15, 2001

By 

Larry Mark "editor of MyJewishBooks.com" (nyc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper (Paperback)

The subtitle of the book is "Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper." Well, I read the newspaper, but as a committed reader of The New York Times, I don't have the opportunity to read the daily comic strips (since the NYT contains no syndicated daily strips). But I heard about The Boondocks and bought the book. What can I say? If there was a Mount Rushmore for cartoonists, Mr, McGruder belongs there. Not only are the strips funny, witty, and biting, but as a graduate of social and cultural analysis studies at Maryland, his perceptions are dead on. As McGruder writes, "the truth hurts." It hurts because your stomach hurts so bad from the laughing. Who else would think of putting an insulting blurb from the President of BET on the back cover of the book, if not a genius? As was written above and below, Huey and Riley Freeman move with their grandfather to the white suburbs of Woodcrest from downtown Chicago. It's their grandfather's dream and 40 acres, but Huey thinks that he is the mule. It is a town where the grammar school is named for J Edgar Hoover, and the junior high is named for George Wallace (or so Huey's grandfather mused). Riley's teacher was a nun and worked in a prison before becoming a teacher. Huey and Riley's neighbors include an interracial couple, their daughter, and a naïve white girl. Huey and Riley work hard to keep it real, but your laughs will come easy. I can't wait a next volume. I hope it includes Huey, Caesar and Mr. Tom Dubois' debate over Kwanzaa (budget Hanukkah? or a perpetuation of a fallacy of monolithic African culture?) Where is the line a Boondock's greeting cards?

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Boondocks, October 14, 2000

By 

medjay (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper (Paperback)

I've known of Aaron McGruder's comic strip for a while but never actually got around to reading it (longtime fans will forgive me, I hope). Well, I got my hands on this collection and after catching up with everyone else I have to say that I have a new flag to wave. In fact, I'm kind of jealous. Boondocks is exactly the comic strip I would have created had I actually sat down and done it. Topics such as Hip-Hop, racial identity, stereotyping and poitics are all dealt with in an intellegent and non-condecending manner that's fresh in this age of stiffling political correctness.

It's refreshing to see hip-hop treated with the respect it deserves by someone who clearly loves the culture. The discussions about race and politics are honest and thought- provoking. Plus, like the best Calvin and Hobbes strips, Boondocks is just downright funny.

I have to admit that I had no idea that Mr. McGruder's strip had caused such an uproar. After reading the book I hit up the website and was treated to a very telling display of all the hate mail and negativity that has been spewed by numerous people. It's not surprising. One thing that I've come to realize is that a lot of people have a very low tolerance and understanding of social satire. That's why people don't "get" movies like "Fight Club" and bad mouth the current Spike Lee Joint "Bamboozled". And since Boondocks is social satire at its finest it will be doomed to misunderstanding and attack by people who don't "get it" and read more into it than they should. Populated by characters like Huey Freeman, a conspiricy theorizing revolutionary and Reily, his foul-mouthed, bling-blinging little brother, Boondocks is not your typical Sunday paper comic strip.

My favorite moment from the book involves Huey answering the phone and being presented with "exciting news" about new long distance service. Huey responds that he has exciting news too. . . "De La Soul is releasing a triple LP this year and The Roots are finally coming out with their long-awaited live album."

Well, I have exciting news too. . . The Boondocks strips are now collected in their first book. Pick it up.

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Free Jolly Jenkins!, December 4, 2000

By 

linus (the land of wind and ghosts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Boondocks: Because I Know You Don't Read The Newspaper (Paperback)

I was happily surprised to see this in a bookstore -- I didn't even know it was out there. Guess nobody at Andrews McMeel is exactly breakin' their backs promoting this. Anyway, if 'Peanuts' owned the '50s and '60s, 'Doonesbury' owned the '70s, and 'Bloom County,' 'The Far Side' and 'Calvin & Hobbes' owned the '80s, who owned the '90s? There was a long, LONG dry spell before Aaron McGruder came along in 1999. He may yet own the new decade as well. What comic strip that originated in the '90s has been this consistently funny and relevant and biting? 'Dilbert'? It has its moments but mainly appeals to guys like Scott Adams. 'Fox Trot'? Thanks, but I prefer a strip that slams 'Star Wars' to a strip that has devoted entire weeks to 'Star Wars' homages.

'The Boondocks' has managed to offend both white and black people, which means it's doing something right. The nice thing is that it also manages to entertain both white and black people -- at least those who get the joke, who find humor in the goofiness specific to white people and the goofiness specific to black people. This isn't a get-whitey strip -- McGruder has a bit of fun at the expense of his protagonists, the ever-righteous Huey and his gangsta-wannabe brother Riley. Yet he also lets each of them have moments of clarity and insight. Even at his most ruthless, there's very little mean-spiritedness in McGruder's satire -- he's one of those satirists who has a kind of affection for the stupidities he's skewering, because he knows life wouldn't be as funny without them. (Perfect example: his ongoing digs at B.E.T.)

In all, this book is the beginning of what's shaping up to be a great career. Jump on board now.