Set in the early 1960s, The Learners is the stand alone sequel to Kidd's previous novel, The Cheese Monkeys. Always entertaining and often moving, The Learners is the story of Happy, a young graphic designer who lands his first job at a wacky advertising firm in New Haven, Connecticut. Among his colourful co-workers is Sketch, the lovable, aging illustrator whose finely-crafted drawings of potato chips are regarded by Happy as near masterpieces; Tip, the quick-witted copy-writer who's always hunting for the next snappy slogan; and Mimi, the cold, eccentric matriarch, who treats her enormous dog as if he's her husband. Happy fits right in among these likable eccentrics, and together, they struggle to hold onto their most important client, Cringle Potato Chips, and land the new and lucrative Buckle Shoes account.
The Learners: A Novel
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A sequel to book designer Kidd's first novel, The Cheese Monkeys, this beautifully composed paean to pre-computer graphic design pitches recent graduate Happy (his nickname), now 21, into the mercantile halls of down-at-the-heels New Haven ad agency Spears, Rakoff and Ware. Kidd paints the agency with all the customary conventions of a mid-century office culture farce: lacquered secretaries, lunchtime scotches and broken-down businessmen. Happy wiles away his time in blissful drudgery until he fields a call for designing a tiny ad for a seemingly innocuous psychological study. The study is being run by (real-life psychologist) Stanley Milgram, and Happy is unable to resist volunteering; little surprise for readers that Happy finds himself a participant in Milgram's notorious Obedience to Authority experiment, playing the role of The Teacher who is ordered to shock The Learner with near-lethal doses of electricity. Though character development is less the point than jokes about behaviorism and old school office culture's last gasps, the experiment teaches Happy more than he ever hoped to know. The jokes are sometimes dippy, and some of the typographical pyrotechnics are on the twee side. But Kidd's ebullience and generosity in unpacking the art and practice of graphic design carry the novel. (Feb.)
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.
From Bookmarks Magazine
Graphic designer and novelist Chip Kidd is best known for his smart book-jacket designs for Donna Tartt, David Sedaris, and Michael Crichton, among others. He used his innovative design elements to explore the relationship between form and content in The Cheese Monkeys, and he employs the same design virtuosity here, though critics diverged in opinion about how much virtuosity, exactly, was enough. While most reviewers praised Kidd’s design talent, a few thought he courted gimmickry with his page and font designs, and others thought he didn’t go far enough. With the exception of the New York Times Book Review, however, reviewers agreed on Kidd’s ample literary talentâ€"his dark, satirical wit, solid characterizations, and ability to explore the dark abyss of the human soul. For pure originality, there’s little else like The Learnersâ€"except, of course, The Cheese Monkeys, where readers may wish to start.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
If you've read The Cheese Monkeys and you liked it, you'll definitely like this, because it just follows on from where that novel left off. Which is, on the whole, a good thing.
It means that for those of us who are graphic designers, we get to read the second novel (okay maybe there are more but I don't know about them) about a graphic designer. That's pretty cool for designers. If you're not a designer then I don't think it matters since designers probably read novels about policemen quite happily.
Having said that, The Learners doesn't just happen to be about a graphic designer. Since it's also written (and designed) by a graphic designer, there's quite a lot of stuff in it about graphic design that borders on the educational. You may learn something about typefaces.
Back to the story: it's about a guy called Happy, who appears to have no romantic or sexual interest in any of the other characters, which is a bit odd. In fact, this book doesn't deal with sex at all except for about three pages when it still doesn't, not really.
It's actually mostly about the main character's reaction to an experiment he takes part in to test how much one human will hurt another if told to by somebody they trust. It's based on an experiment that really did take place in the 1950s.
The setting is the best part of the book though: a small designer's office in New Haven, the sort of place that doesn't exist in today's world of identikit offices. Instead of Project desk systems, there are poky offices with glass doors and polished wood, rolls of paper, the smell of ink, eccentric people and general cosy confusion. That's very well portrayed.
But the story seems a bit thin and kind of there just to hang all the graphic designer stuff on, all the clever stuff the (very clever) author wants to tell us in a that slightly cutesy post Salinger style he adopts that could get annoying but which I happen to like.
I don't know whether everyone would like it, but I loved it.
And the cover artwork is, as you'd expect, superb.
It means that for those of us who are graphic designers, we get to read the second novel (okay maybe there are more but I don't know about them) about a graphic designer. That's pretty cool for designers. If you're not a designer then I don't think it matters since designers probably read novels about policemen quite happily.
Having said that, The Learners doesn't just happen to be about a graphic designer. Since it's also written (and designed) by a graphic designer, there's quite a lot of stuff in it about graphic design that borders on the educational. You may learn something about typefaces.
Back to the story: it's about a guy called Happy, who appears to have no romantic or sexual interest in any of the other characters, which is a bit odd. In fact, this book doesn't deal with sex at all except for about three pages when it still doesn't, not really.
It's actually mostly about the main character's reaction to an experiment he takes part in to test how much one human will hurt another if told to by somebody they trust. It's based on an experiment that really did take place in the 1950s.
The setting is the best part of the book though: a small designer's office in New Haven, the sort of place that doesn't exist in today's world of identikit offices. Instead of Project desk systems, there are poky offices with glass doors and polished wood, rolls of paper, the smell of ink, eccentric people and general cosy confusion. That's very well portrayed.
But the story seems a bit thin and kind of there just to hang all the graphic designer stuff on, all the clever stuff the (very clever) author wants to tell us in a that slightly cutesy post Salinger style he adopts that could get annoying but which I happen to like.
I don't know whether everyone would like it, but I loved it.
And the cover artwork is, as you'd expect, superb.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By rs
Format:Hardcover
I agree with the other reviewers... if I hadn't loved "The Cheese Monkeys," I never would have read this book, but I'm glad I did, because it was excellent. For those who don't like Kidd's writing style, it could get annoying, but for those who do, it's another gem. Overall a great novel, very fast read, makes you think about psychology a little bit too.
Format:Hardcover
I am a huge fan of Chip Kidd's book, The Cheese Monkeys. It's the kind of book that I buy extra copies of to give to other people to read. Every few years I read it again. So when this sequel came out I was excited. But it didn't live up to the quality of the first book at all in my estimation.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Why?
I really have to question the state of the publishing industry. There is not a single reason why this book should have been published. Read more
Published on December 7, 2010 by Jon Gerloff
3.0 out of 5 stars
Design refers to writing too
Utilizing the same principals Kidd illuminates in the previous The Cheese Monkeys would have gone far to make The Learners a stronger work. Read more
Published on July 27, 2009 by Chloe
2.0 out of 5 stars
A letdown after Cheese Monkeys
This is Chip Kidd's follow-up to THE CHEESE MONKEYS, picking where the first book left off. It's 1961 and Happy, now out of art school, lands a job at the small New England ad... Read more
Published on March 1, 2009 by J. Bosiljevac
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't read this book...
...unless you read The Cheese Monkeys first. I was familiar with Mr. Kidd's graphic design for some time, and saw him speak at the Gravity Free Conference. Read more
Published on July 7, 2008 by Mark
2.0 out of 5 stars
Too Gimmiky
I had high hopes for this book after reading a review in Newsweek. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. Read more
Published on June 8, 2008 by Multimedia Professor
4.0 out of 5 stars
A worthy sequel
"The Learners," a sequel to Kidd's "The Cheese Monkeys," is a fascinating read, multilayered and extraordinarily original in its execution. Read more
Published on May 5, 2008 by I. Sondel
3.0 out of 5 stars
satisfying read
The language play promised by the book's description intrigued me. But after reading, I'd say the characters are more satisfying than the novel's attempt to comment on form vs. Read more
Published on April 16, 2008 by A S
5.0 out of 5 stars
All Grown Up
One of the most simultaneously giddying and terrifying experiences is reading the sequel to a book that you love. Read more
Published on April 4, 2008 by Saren
4.0 out of 5 stars
Entertaining and informational
I must admit the interesting cover attracted my attention on my library's new release shelf, not having read the previous book The Cheese Monkeys. Read more
Published on March 25, 2008 by Elmore Hammes
5.0 out of 5 stars
An awesome read
Only knowing that Chip was a awesome designer I was intriqued that he also wrote. I started reading the Learners and could not put it down. Read more
Published on March 7, 2008 by S. Oatmeyer
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