Customer Reviews

Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, and Health-Inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Mix the neurosis of the young Woody Allen, the sublime-but-unexpected logic of comedian Steven Wright, the macabre wink of Gahan Wilson, the grand guignol of Charles Addams, the cleverness of the Far Side -- with just a dash of the heart-strings and plaintive cuteness of Cathy Guisewhite -- and you may have something like the outstandingly amusing cartoons of Roz Chast. Penned in a manner that suggests hands trembling constantly from too much coffee or perhaps too little electroshock therapy, there is a pervasive nervous energy in this work that, frankly, makes you want to stop looking at them after a while, in the same way that a strong vinaigrette forces you to pause between bites. You go back, of course, because it's delicious. But you can't take too much at one time.

The targets of Ms. Chast's work include just about everything and everybody you will encounter in your life and it is very unlikely there is an interpersonal relationship you are suffering through that will not be present on these pages in a way that helps you laugh at your own small worries. She also nicely deals with the blither of modern life, from retail stores to the proliferation of award categories.

Roz Chast's work is jittery and completely on-target. I recommend this book highly to those who like off-beat visual humor.

A genius overdose of Roz Chast, for old fans and new. This woman does, of course, know Everything, though like a good novelist or scriptwriter (or deity), she also knows how to wrap Everything in a few swathes of complication and irony to make the whole process more fun. If (or rather, when) future historians rummage among the rubble of our stab at civilization, I hope they find a pristine copy of THEORIES OF EVERYTHING (memo: buy extra copy and suitable-sized lead container to bury in garden), they will be able to piece together just about all they need to know about us. Worried, overweight men with small moustaches and clever small women with glasses were what we were about, and don't let anyone tell you any different, not now and certainly not in 3000 AD.

At last for fans of R. Chast. This book is so funny that you cannot put it down and will annoy everyone in the house by laughing out loud every 30 seconds to the exclusion of every other activity for the rest of the day.

Roz Chast is a brilliant cartoonist, as all readers of the New Yorker know. But this large compilation--so big it will hurt your wrists--demonstrates her range and skills conclusively. A big, big helping of Chast's work in a long-lasting form; now you can take down all those clippings from the refrigerator door.

Splendid book filled with amusing musings. Acerbic, incisive, whimsical and triggering many loud laughs, this book is an excellent introduction to those ignorant of Chast's talent. For those of us already fans, it is an enjoyable compilation of her oeuvre.

This collection of Roz Chast cartoons brings me great joy and delight. It's fun to watch the evolution of her particular "style" from her earlier works to recent years. All of my favorites are here (i.e. "Inside One's Memory Bank", etc.) Some people don't "get" her, and that's fine with me ("Can't come to the U.S. to buy property -- I have to finish Scrubbing This Teakettle!") She draws some of my favorite cartoon facial expressions ever and I have a secret dream of someday owning an actual cartoon she penned or seeing my likeness as drawn by Roz. Those fantasies may never happen, but in the meantime I forked over the bucks for this great big old book and am so glad that I did. Where else can I relish a world of "Bad Mom" magazine and "The kid who learned about math on the street"?

The book weighs a ton and it is worth lifting, carrying around, and reading as much as possible. It is better than red popsicles and almost as good as dark chocolate covered carmels (the good ones). It is like someone excised all of the best parts of "The New Yorker" and installed them into one book. If you are a fan of Roz Chast, tell a good friend to buy it for you for your birthday... or if you have no friends buy it for your own birhtday.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this volume of cartoons. Chaste targets so many of the foibles of family and society with humor and a touch of venom. Perhaps the same feeling that a fly has, caught in the spider web. Alas, too late!!

I love the quirky, definitely neurotic humor to be found
in this treasure of cartoons. A great brouse when I need
a laugh.

Roz Chast has the uncanny ability to find hilarity in the everyday. Her cartoons will have you laughing out loud in recognition of your own similar experiences, feelings and thoughts (both as a child and as an adult). Unlike many collections of cartoons, there is hardly a dud among the hundreds collected here. Highly recommended.