The Cheese Monkeys: A Novel in Two Semesters [Hardcover]

Chip Kidd (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 25, 2001

A hilarious debut novel that could only be described as a portrait of the designer as a young man. 'Show me something I've never seen before and will never be able to forget - if you can do that, you can do anything.' It's 1957, long before computers have replaced the trained eye and skilful hand. Our narrator at State University is determined to major in Art, and after several risible false starts, he accidentally ends up in a new class: 'Introduction to Graphic Design'. His teacher is the enigmatic Winter Sorbeck, equal parts genius, seducer and sadist. Sorbeck is a bitter yet fascinating man whose assignments hurl his charges through a gauntlet of humiliation and heartache, shame and triumph, ego-bashing and enlightenment. Along the way, friendships are made and undone, jealousies simmer, and the sexual tango weaves and dips. By the end of their 'Introduction to Graphic Design', Sorbeck's students will never see the world in the same way again. And, with Chip Kidd's insights into the secrets of graphic design, neither will you.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A sharp, fast-paced, and well-packaged academic satire, along the lines of James Hyne's The Lecturer's Tale (LJ 12/00), this is a coming-of-age story from the point of view of the paying victim (a.k.a. the student). A na?ve fellow finds himself in the hallowed, cinderblock halls of his state art school in the 1950s where, try as he might, he can't quite capture in pencil the essence of a decapitated waterfowl, an old shoe, and a detumescent pomegranate. No wonder he becomes enthralled by the charms of one Himillsy Dodd, a free spirit and the only other enrollee in the still-life course who seems to know the meaning of "detumescent." The following semester, the duo find themselves in Art 127: Introduction to Commercial Art, and the novel shifts typeface and turns into a syllabus for what might be the ultimate graphic design class. Winter Sorbeck challenges his students and himself perhaps beyond what today's law allows, but the results are all recorded in indelible ink on their Permanent Academic Records, though the novel's painful conclusion does find Sorbeck out job hunting. Kidd is an award-winning graphic artist responsible for the memorable book jackets for such titles as Jurassic Park and Love in the Time of Cholera. That should assure his first novel a healthy amount of publicity with attendant demand. For all larger public libraries and for art schools everywhere. Bob Lunn, Kansas City P.L., MO
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Kidd is a pioneer in book cover art, but this novel marks his first attempt to write the words between his magnificent covers. It tells the story of one boy's discovery of graphic design in college and his talented and cruel professor. The "novel in two semesters" follows our narrator through his first year at the ubiquitous "State U." In the first semester, he meets Himillsy Dodd, a precociously brilliant fellow art major with a great disdain for art, and takes "Introduction to Drawing," which includes such inane exercises as drawing a still life of a large, brown, and dead bird named Renaldo. Then they take graphic design with the enigmatic William Sorbeck, and life changes forever. Sorbeck shines in three dimensions on the page, a living representation of the larger-than-life professor that luckier college students have a chance to know. This is a fascinating, funny, and wonderfully written novel of graphic design that manages to deepen the reader's appreciation for the artistry and wonder of design without a single drawing. John Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Scribner; First Edition edition (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743214927
• ISBN-13: 978-0743214926
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #912,760 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars 85% of a really good book November 5, 2001

By David M. Chess

Format:Hardcover

Someone needs to do a study of Needlessly Apocalyptic Endings in Modern Fiction. Most of this book is great fun; hip and funny, and also a Work of Ideas, all about art and love and design and integrity and stuff. Then (somewhere around the Frat Party scene) Kidd seems to have realized it was about time for the ending, and reached for the explosives.

The last two chapters seem to be mostly a hallucinatory dream induced by lack of sleep (the protagonist's, that is, although I could believe it of Kidd also). Which is very nice and modern and all, but I'd rather know what *happened*. Unless I'm overly dense, Kidd is violating his own quite plausible design rule: when designing an object of whatever kind, it's more important that it accomplish the purpose than that it look clever.

But anyway! It's a good book, and do read it. It won't take all that long; it's a pretty wild and energetic ride. And maybe the ending that was silly and opaque to me will be lucid and relevatory to you. You Never Know.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read December 3, 2001

By Elizabeth Hendry VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Cheese Monkeys is a rare kind of novel--completely off the wall, yet completely accessible, completely readable. It's the story of a freshman at a huge state college who decides to major in art because he knows it will be mishandled in some mediocre way and for his first semester, it is. He takes drawing from a woman whose artistic expertise and tastes even this 18 year old disdains. The class, however, still has its merits. He manages to befriend two diametrically opposed women who take his second semester art class--commercial (or maybe its graphic) arts. The professor is borderline insane, as are many of the assignments. Kidd does an excellent job of evoking the weirdness and the fun of college. The ending of the novel is a little bizarre, and Kidd does manage to fill the book with much of what appears to be his own philosophy of art (its not forced, which is refreshing). The novel is funny and clever and I really enjoyed it. Well done.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Manipulated. January 15, 2002

By Donald R. Kelm

Format:Hardcover

Four stars for cleverness and fun. Two stars for not being able to close a story. Notice I'm not saying,"Resolve." Kidd is clever, entertaining, and offers wonderful--often hilarious, justifiable insights in to the demimonde of Art and the creatures to be found therein. Yet with the closing chapter, possibly two, Kidd becomes facile and employs a preposterous "deus ex machina" which more than anything suggests weariness with the story and/or an inability to end a thing which has moved beyond his ability to control/complete. I was entranced right up to the last two chapters and then felt Kidd reneged on all those high sounding principles he earlier expounded.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The cheese monkeys will get you if you don't watch out. November 28, 2001

By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:Hardcover

Though Chip Kidd is best known as a "graphic designer" for book covers (as opposed to "commercial artist," a distinction he makes in the book), his talent as a writer could propel him into a whole new field--and this book into cult icon status. With a clarity of vision perhaps brought on by hindsight, he lays bare the emotional and intellectual confusion of a naďve, first year art student at a state university, a character who must find himself in an atmosphere which requires him to evaluate all the ideas and values he's uncritically absorbed to date. The character, who feels autobiographical, is lively, funny, and, I thought, totally believable, and I suspect that any reader who has ever taken an art course will empathize, if not identify, with him in some way.

As the speaker lives through this "novel in two semesters," he is profoundly affected by an off-the-wall female upperclassman, Himillsy Dodd, a free-spirited, hard-drinking woman of strong opinions, willing to challenge everyone and everything. Opposing hypocrisy wherever she finds it (virtually everywhere), Himillsy serves as a quirky mentor during the speaker's first two art classes, the second of which is with Winter Sorbeck, a never-to-be-forgotten instructor who turns his students' thinking inside-out, viciously critiquing not only of their work but also their personalities. As "Happy" deals with Sorbeck, Himillsy, the usual freshman tensions, fraternity parties, exams, critiques, and all-nighters, the reader shares his anxieties and feels his growth.

The amusing cover of the book resembles a doodled-on freshman text, with a magic marker message written on the binding and side of the closed book, bleeding into the pages themselves.... The title, taken from one of Himillsy's sculptures, is as goofy as she is, though its meaning becomes clearer as the book progresses. The ending is a letdown, however, and it feels as if the book got away from the author, who then had to take extreme action to resolve his subplots and themes. Still, it is an auspicious debut, special fun for anyone interested in art. Mary Whipple Read more ›

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Debut! October 12, 2001

By Timothy Callahan

Format:Hardcover

I've had a difficult time lately finding contemporary novels that interest me beyond the dust jacket. Most novels look great, sound great, but lack substance. Chip Kidd's debut is one of the rare exceptions.

Kidd manages, in a relatively clean, simple narrative, to explore the depths of the human need to create. He does so with wit, vigor, and insight. I literally could not put the novel down once I started it last night (and I really could have used those extra hours of sleep--but the novel was too engrossing).

I have one question though: Does anyone know why Chip Kidd thanks The Berkshire Mall (of all places)?

Overall, a brilliant work of contemporary fiction. Buy it and enjoy.