Love Is Hell [Paperback]

Matt Groening (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 22, 1994

It's the 10th Anniversary Edition of Love Is Hell! A book that's been in the making for a solid decade! This medium-sized guide is now available to the public with extra bonus fun-pages never-before-included in previous volumes of the same name! Slightly less scrawny than the original Love Is Hell, this behemoth-style handbook is jam-packed with all the info YOU need to keep your love-fight burnin'! Frankly written and profusely illustrated by famed cartoonist and merchandising monarch Matt Groening, Love Is Hell is the answer to all your Quandaries de l'Amour, or, as we say in American, Love Quandaries. Inside, you'll find handy tips on everything from Getting the Love You Deserve to Getting Your Heart Broken into Millions of Tiny Pieces. Plus so very much more. Why, we've even included a brand-spankin'-new intro by the author himself, written especially for this incredible 10th Anniversary Edition! And as if that wasn't enough, because you've waited so patiently for this special edition to come out, you get a special gold-colored anniversary seal right on the front cover, just because we care. Here's hoping you find a love as lasting and meaningful as this paperback.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

It's the 10th Anniversary Edition of Love Is Hell! A book that's been in the making for a solid decade! This medium-sized guide is now available to the public with extra bonus fun-pages never-before-included in previous volumes of the same name! Slightly less scrawny than the original Love Is Hell, this behemoth-style handbook is jam-packed with all the info YOU need to keep your love-fight burnin'! Frankly written and profusely illustrated by famed cartoonist and merchandising monarch Matt Groening, Love Is Hell is the answer to all your Quandaries de l'Amour, or, as we say in American, Love Quandaries. Inside, you'll find handy tips on everything from Getting the Love You Deserve to Getting Your Heart Broken into Millions of Tiny Pieces. Plus so very much more. Why, we've even included a brand-spankin'-new intro by the author himself, written especially for this incredible 10th Anniversary Edition! And as if that wasn't enough, because you've waited so patiently for this special edition to come out, you get a special gold-colored anniversary seal right on the front cover, just because we care. Here's hoping you find a love as lasting and meaningful as this paperback.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Pantheon; 10th edition (November 22, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679756655
• ISBN-13: 978-0679756651
• Product Dimensions: 10.6 x 0.2 x 10.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Matt Groening, creator and executive producer of Fox's Emmy Award®-winning series The Simpsons, made television history by bringing animation back to primetime and creating an immortal nuclear family. The Simpsons is the longest running primetime animated series in television history and is currently the longest-running comedy on television, having aired more than 400 episodes. In July 2007, the highly anticipated feature film The Simpsons Movie opened in theaters with worldwide grosses of more than $525 million to date.

Originally brought to life in 1987 for The Tracey Ullman Show, The Simpsons was Groening's amazing entry into the television animation world. Previously, he was best-known for his "Life in Hell" cartoon strip, an irreverent portrayal of love, work, school, life and relationships that currently appears in more than 250 newspapers worldwide and in a multitude of books.

Groening's other Emmy-Award®-winning creation, Futurama, launched on Fox in March 1999 and ran for five seasons. Last year Fox released the direct-to-DVD full-length original feature Futurama: Bender's Big Score. Three additional films will be released and the entire series with new episodes will air on Comedy Central this year.

In 1993, Groening formed Bongo Comics Group, where he serves as publisher of The Simpsons Library of Wisdom, Simpsons Episode Guides, Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson Comics, Radioactive Man Comics, Simpsons Comics Treasure Trove, the annual Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror, Futurama Comics, more than 36 comic compilations, as well as instant classics including Bart Simpsons Guide to Life, The Simpsons Handbook, and The Simpsons Uncensored Family Album among others!

In addition to the many awards bestowed on his creations (including Emmys, Annies, and the prestigious Peabody Award), Groening was personally honored with the Rueben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year, the highest honor presented by the National Cartoonist Society. To date there are more than 14 million copies of books from HarperCollins in print throughout North America, the UK, and Australia based on The Simpsons, Futurama, and Life in Hell.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Funny as hell, October 22, 2002

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Is Hell (Paperback)

Groening had panel cartoons (our local counter-cultural paper carried it) before the Simpsons became huge. If you haven't enjoyed Groening's non-Homer-and-Bart material, you are in for a real treat.

Of the "Hell" books (and they are all as funny as hell) I like this one the best. There are plenty of Groening's signature chart cartoons, where he fills out a panel with "The 9 types of Boyfriends" or my particular favorite "The Teenage Guide to Crime and Punishment" which includes the Crime of Teenage Pregnancy with the boy sulking "I only put it in a little" and the girl simultaneously saying "We're in LOVE!"

And then there is "Akbar and Jeff" --two crazy guys in fezzes, and Groening's poke at small business with his "Hut" chain of stores like Tofu Hut. (not sure if that one is in Love is Hell, but there are plenty more.)

I must've bought at least 6 copies of this because I keep giving it away as presents. It's really, really funny. If you think Groening was just "Simpsons" and then dropped off with "Futurama (what's with THAT?!) then you might be pleasantly surprised by his cartoonist abilities.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars There is NO ONE Funnier than Groening, February 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Love Is Hell (Paperback)

We Live in a world where hearts are broken on a daily basis, often unexplained, often crushingly terrible (where you want to curl up on the floor in a fetal position and catterwall until the early morning---yes, I've been there). When one feels this way, there is only one cure. That cure is laughter. Love Is Hell hasn't changed the world or saved lives (not that I know of anyway), but it has allowed us to look at the way that we behave when it comes to romantic matters and laugh at it. Granted, it is darkly funny, but funny nonetheless. By holding the mirror up to our own insecurties, neurosis, and emotion, Groening has provided the the salve in chuckle form for a wounded heart---a book that understands the pain, makes it funny, but never makes light of it. A stunning achievement from a very gifted man.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read, October 24, 2002

By 

RLD "rd1241" (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Is Hell (Paperback)

If you are a fan of the Simpsons and Matt Groening, you will love this book. From his take on the types of girlfriends to the stages of a breakup, Groening approaches each subject with sarcastic precision that will have you rolling on the floor. If you like the Life in Hell series, this is a must for you. Buy this book! You will love it.