Penguin Soup for the Soul: A Novel [Paperback]

Tom Tomorrow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 15, 1998

From its modest beginnings in the 'zine world, Tom Tomorrow's cartoons have steadily grown into one of the most recognizible and widely read features in the American press. Appearing regularly in U.S. News and World Report, The Nation, The New York Times, and more than one hundred other magazines and newspapers, as well as on the web on such popular sites as Salon, Tom Tomorrow's social and political satire is read by more than twenty million people weekly. Frequently cited in reader polls as one of the most popular features in papers and magazines that feature him, Tom Tomorrow has shown that he has his finger on the pulse of a disenchanted American populace-and the rare ability to infuriate many of the rest. Now, to the delight of new fans and old, Penguin Soup for the Soul brings together Sparky, the Wonder Penguin (the most acerbic, cantankerous cartoon animal in the comics business), Biff, and Betty, not to mention the entire cast of modern America-ranging from Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich to media pundits and the entire 105th Congress. So, take a deep breath and prepare for yet another excursion into Tomorrowland. . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tom Tomorrow (the pen name of Dan Perkins) won the 1998 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Cartooning, but if Bobby were alive, he'd probably be furious with him. Though Tom Tomorrow's scathingly entertaining This Modern World cartoon leans hard to the left, the entire political spectrum is its shooting gallery. He's capable of skewering Newt Gingrich, Clinton ("a spineless, amoral opportunist" depicted as a worm), Reagan, Nixon, and Vlad the Impaler in a single hilarious strip. With the longest (and arguably the wittiest) word balloons in the business and a gratuitously sarcastic cartoon penguin named Sparky, Tom Tomorrow nails them all: Alan Greenspan, Abraham Lincoln, Sam Donaldson, even Mother Teresa! ("She DID befriend such noted champions of the poor as 'Baby Doc' Duvalier and Charles Keating--the latter of whom gave her more than a million dollars in cash....") Tom Tomorrow may be the most effective liberal editorialist in America. He also pays homage to other cartoonists when appropriate: clueless young right-wingers at a college conference honoring Oliver North get depicted as the kids from The Family Circus; there's a so-so pastiche of Little Nemo in Slumberland; and the Dr. Seuss parody is a hoot. "Did you grope her in your house? Did you grope beneath her blouse?" demands Starr-I-Are. "I do not like you Starr-You-Are. I think that you have gone too far! I will not answer any more--perhaps I will go start a war!" Anyone who liked Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot should get this book. --Tim Appelo

Review

"Tom Tomorrow is more than a columnist, saying infinitely more with a combination of words and images than with words alone. And unlike even the best traditional political cartoonists, he does more than come up with clever images or wordplay to make a humorous political point. His strip informs." --New Haven Advocate

"Tomorrow takes wide, powerful swipes at our conspiculous consumerism, at the way mainstream media distorts events, and how we all, whether we admit it or not, let the media interpret reality for us. Pretty heady stuff for cartoons. Any awfully entertaining to boot."
--Creative Loafing

"Sparky the Penguin is among the best of the new generation." --San Francisco Examiner

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; 1st edition (August 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312193165
• ISBN-13: 978-0312193164
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 8.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,883 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First Rate Satire, May 10, 2000

By 

Chad Bagley "Chad" (Shanghai China/Provo, UT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penguin Soup for the Soul: A Novel (Paperback)

All of Tom Tomorrow's books are great. Unlike alot of cartoonist that like to fancy themselves on the edge- Tom actually is. His cartoons are biting, timely, and go for the jugular. This guy isn't afraid to point out hypocricy, stupidity or just flat out irony wherever he finds it. You gotta love a cartoonist that gets dumped by the 'U.S. News and World Report' for being too contraversial.

Sparky may be flightless, but he's one tough bird.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun with Sparky, March 3, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Penguin Soup for the Soul: A Novel (Paperback)

Tom Tomorrow has always been able to see the bigger picture, dissect the larger issues and cut through the glaze of popular media to illustrate the absudities of modern America. I'm probably biased because I've found his politics to match my own. At the same time "This Modern World" and especially "Penguin Soup for the Soul" is so laugh-out-loud funny that it transcends mere satire but never loses its edge in the process.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for all your friends., December 3, 1998

By 

H. Graham "bonzobooklover" (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Penguin Soup for the Soul: A Novel (Paperback)

If your refrigerator, like mine, is the resting place for dozens of yellowed and wrinkled Tom Tomorrow cartoons, then do yourself a favor and buy this book. While you're at it, buy it for all your friends, especially those who need a little enlightening. He says what has to be said, and in four lousy panels says it better than most pundits can do with 1000 words. he is an equal opportunity critic, poking fun at Bill as often as Newt, but always scathingly brilliant and to the point.