First serialized in The New York Times Magazine “Funny Pages”
The celebrated cartoonist and New Yorker illustrator Seth weaves the fictional tale of George Sprott, the host of a long-running television program. The events forming the patchwork of George’s life are pieced together from the tenuous memories of several informants, who often have contradictory impressions. His estranged daughter describes the man as an unforgivable lout, whereas his niece remembers him fondly. His former assistant recalls a trip to the Arctic during which George abandoned him for two months, while George himself remembers that trip as the time he began writing letters to a former love, from whom he never received replies.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. First serialized in the New York Times Magazine, this exquisite extended version of the life of fictional Canadian TV personality George Sprott only adds to Seth's place as one of the form's masters. In the hours and moments before Sprott's death in 1975, the omniscient—and nameless—narrator flashes both backward to key moments in the TV man's life and forward to interviews conducted after Sprott's passing. After spending four years in seminary school, Sprott sets out to be, as he dubs himself, a gentleman adventurer, taking numerous trips to the Canadian Arctic and filming his exploits. After he lands his own television program, Northern Hi-Lights, in the '50s, Sprott spends the next 20-plus years (1,132 episodes) telling and retelling stories of his adventures with the Inuits. Along the way, we meet his long-suffering wife, Helen; employees of the Radio Hotel (where Sprott lived for the last 10 years of his life); and members of the Coronet Club (where he delivered regular and increasingly boring lectures). Musings by the man himself—on everything from modern life to food to loneliness—help to round out this portrait of a man who never seemed truly satisfied but somehow made do. Seth (Palookaville) manages to make what is essentially the story of one man's slow death into an often humorous rumination on the power of media, memory and loss. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
Praise for Seth:
“[Seth] is exceptionally gifted at evoking the passing of time and the stasis of space.” —The Washington Post
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I would think almost everyone knows the classic story of George Bailey in "It's a Wonderful Life". George Bailey is rescued from committing suicide on Christmas Eve by Clarence the wingless angel. Mr. Bailey thought that the world would be a better place without him. With the help of the narrators Franklin and Joseph along with our wingless angel, we all see the real merit of George Bailey's life.
Seth's narrative graphic depiction of George Sprott's life can be the antithesis of "It's a Wonderful Life". Utilizing all the major events of George Sprott's life we see a graphic narrative which emanates sadness, lost opportunities, narcissism, and loneliness and yes fame. Yes George Sprott gains a rather local limited fame and makes many acquaintances but are they true friends? Seth goes back and forth in his multi-narratives in which we learn of what people saw and thought of George Sprott.
Unlike "It's a Wonderful Life", Seth does not do his story in chronological order. Rather Seth jumps to a disparity of years, not in order, to convey certain philosophies and points of order. You will see a man struggling for a life of meaning and unlike George Bailey, George Sprott does not have an angel to guide him.
In as much as Sprott does not lead the "hometown hero" life of Mr. Bailey, Seth offers the fact that all life, even less than fulfilling ones are worth living. Seth's use of graphics in showing a small Canadian town are, how can I say it, "Sethesque". His story line again in the narrative and graphic depictions are what Edward Hopper conveyed in his art. I don't have enough Stars!! Great graphic novella from Seth's hand!!!
Seth's narrative graphic depiction of George Sprott's life can be the antithesis of "It's a Wonderful Life". Utilizing all the major events of George Sprott's life we see a graphic narrative which emanates sadness, lost opportunities, narcissism, and loneliness and yes fame. Yes George Sprott gains a rather local limited fame and makes many acquaintances but are they true friends? Seth goes back and forth in his multi-narratives in which we learn of what people saw and thought of George Sprott.
Unlike "It's a Wonderful Life", Seth does not do his story in chronological order. Rather Seth jumps to a disparity of years, not in order, to convey certain philosophies and points of order. You will see a man struggling for a life of meaning and unlike George Bailey, George Sprott does not have an angel to guide him.
In as much as Sprott does not lead the "hometown hero" life of Mr. Bailey, Seth offers the fact that all life, even less than fulfilling ones are worth living. Seth's use of graphics in showing a small Canadian town are, how can I say it, "Sethesque". His story line again in the narrative and graphic depictions are what Edward Hopper conveyed in his art. I don't have enough Stars!! Great graphic novella from Seth's hand!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
You pass people like George Sprott on the street every day, and you probably never give them a second look. He's a small-town TV star, well past his prime and soon to be relegated to the dustbin of history. He is ordinary, and his mark on the world would appear to be small. But no man is really ordinary, and each of us has a story to tell. George's story is not a hopeful one; in fact, it carries a load of regret and remorse. Some of the tale is told through the eyes of his colleagues and associates -- it's hard to call them friends -- and their words paint a fairly pathetic picture. But you will be touched and moved by it, I guarantee you. It's a quick read, marvelously illustrated in dark monochromatics. You'll treasure this and want to share it with anyone who has a conscience, anyone who has ever wondered about the value of a single, solitary life.
9 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I don't know what to say about this book, except that I was blown away by Seth again. Everything I've seen him do has been amazing, and this book is no exception. I hate to sound like a gushing fanboy, but Seth just amazes me.
This wonderful book follows the life of a fictional character from local Canadian TV history. George Sprott is not a perfect person, which only serves to make him more human. The story is told with such grace, and dignity.
The actual book is an art project all by itself. It is beautifully bound. The oversize pages really let Seth's artwork shine. The photographs of the cardboard models Seth made of some of the key buildings in the story were a nice surprise and really added to the overall atmosphere of the book.
If you like Seth, you've got to have this book. And if you've never heard of Seth, what rock have you been living under? You've got to check out this book to see what you've been missing.
This wonderful book follows the life of a fictional character from local Canadian TV history. George Sprott is not a perfect person, which only serves to make him more human. The story is told with such grace, and dignity.
The actual book is an art project all by itself. It is beautifully bound. The oversize pages really let Seth's artwork shine. The photographs of the cardboard models Seth made of some of the key buildings in the story were a nice surprise and really added to the overall atmosphere of the book.
If you like Seth, you've got to have this book. And if you've never heard of Seth, what rock have you been living under? You've got to check out this book to see what you've been missing.
6 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is an obvious attempt to make some quick cash by rubbishing the reputation of one of the best-loved figures of Canadian television. My father knew Sprott well and told me that he was actually far more clever than people made him out to be. That deal about sleeping on the set, for example. It was a GAG! Self-deprecatory humor. Sprott knew what he was about. But this "Seth" guy can't even get his facts straight. Look, if you want good information about Sprott, might I recommend the classic "Minute Biographies of Canadian Television Personalities" which covers Sprott's life with less detail much more accuracy.
By Demosthenes
Format:Hardcover
Imagine Charles Foster Kane, except described by Stephen Leacock; and instead of bestriding the world like a colossus, it is merely an early local TV station in Kitchener-New Hamburg-Erbsville-Speed-Galt-Hespeler-St.Jacobs-Guelph-Waterloo Ontario. (It could almost as easily be Watertown NY; Winetka, Illinois; Grand Forks ND or Yakima, Washington.)
It is a study of mediocrity, built up as a collage from a dozen or more interviews, twenty to thirty years later, of those dwindling few who now remember "George" - presented in a manner like Studs Terkel or Barry Broadfoot, except working in Bande Dessine format.
There is a very sharp knowledge of small town Canada, and, in particular, small town south-western Ontario, in the 1950's and 1960's. The satire of this oh-so-white, English-speaking and protestant provincialism in a multitude of minor details is delicious - so much so that other reviewers and commentators here have picked it up and run with it. Yes, we really were like that.
For all the brilliant satire, the story is about profound themes of desperate loneliness, a life unfulfilled; a yearning; about things and people that time has passed by; the ephemeral nature of celebrity, and even more so of second or third rate celebrity; about decay and dilapidation; about the vague, unfocused regret and remorse of an often selfish, insensitive and inconsiderate man whose blind-spot filled sense of morality is simultaneously superficial and banal even at the best of times. The decline of Sprott is matched by the evolving urban blight that overgrows his haunts - the station; the "Grill" where he eats, the hall where he gives his speeches, the Hotel where he lives after his wife dies. About the only thing missing is "Eleanor Rigby".... Read more ›
It is a study of mediocrity, built up as a collage from a dozen or more interviews, twenty to thirty years later, of those dwindling few who now remember "George" - presented in a manner like Studs Terkel or Barry Broadfoot, except working in Bande Dessine format.
There is a very sharp knowledge of small town Canada, and, in particular, small town south-western Ontario, in the 1950's and 1960's. The satire of this oh-so-white, English-speaking and protestant provincialism in a multitude of minor details is delicious - so much so that other reviewers and commentators here have picked it up and run with it. Yes, we really were like that.
For all the brilliant satire, the story is about profound themes of desperate loneliness, a life unfulfilled; a yearning; about things and people that time has passed by; the ephemeral nature of celebrity, and even more so of second or third rate celebrity; about decay and dilapidation; about the vague, unfocused regret and remorse of an often selfish, insensitive and inconsiderate man whose blind-spot filled sense of morality is simultaneously superficial and banal even at the best of times. The decline of Sprott is matched by the evolving urban blight that overgrows his haunts - the station; the "Grill" where he eats, the hall where he gives his speeches, the Hotel where he lives after his wife dies. About the only thing missing is "Eleanor Rigby".... Read more ›
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Listmania!
|
|
