Why We'll Never Understand Each Other: A Non-Sequitur Look At Relationships [Paperback]

Wiley Miller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 11, 2003 | Series: Non Sequitur Books

Non Sequitur has been entertaining fans for more than a decade, with its Twilight Zone of cartoon moments. Day after day, Non Sequitur hilariously jabs at the feats and foibles of life, skewering everyone from politicians to teenagers. Wiley's irreverent, satirical wit, combined with his superbly crafted illustrations, confirms that the universe is one big joke at humanity's expense.That said, some of Non Sequitur's most popular panels have been the ones where Wiley has offered his takes on "What he heard/what she said." In strip after strip, the cartoonist succinctly captures the absurd and unexpected miscommunications that lie at the heart of every relationship. For example:o What he heard: "Let's go drain the life force from your body." What she said: "Let's go shopping."o What he heard: "Honey, why don't you put your head in a vise and I'll turn the handle until your skull explodes." What she said: "Honey, why don't we turn off the TV and just talk."o What she heard: "Life as we know it will cease to exist unless you can alter the space-time continuum." What he said: "Honey, are you almost ready yet?"Everyone who's ever tried talking to anyone about anything will find Why We'll Never Understand Each Other to be the perfect way to laugh about it all, and maybe-or maybe not-try again.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Wiley Miller studied art at Virginia Commonwealth University and worked for several educational film studios in Los Angeles before joining the Greensboro (N.C.) News and Record as staff artist/editorial cartoonist in 1976. After a stint at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in California, he created his first syndicated strip, Fenton, in 1982. He returned to editorial cartooning three years later, joining the staff of the San Francisco Examiner. In 1988, Wiley was named Best Editorial Cartoonist by the California Newspaper Publishers Association. He won the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in 1991. Wiley lives in Santa Barbara, Calif., with his wife and two daughters.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing (April 11, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0740733877
• ISBN-13: 978-0740733871
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #833,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I began my career in art illustrating educational films. But my interest was always in print and cartooning, so in 1977 I moved from film in Southern California to work as a staff artist and editorial cartoonist for the Greensboro Daily News and the Greensboro Record (they were the morning and evening papers at the time and have since merged into one). In 1979 I moved on to the Santa Rosa Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, Ca.), as doing the staff art for one paper instead of two gave me more time to do editorial cartoons. My editorial cartoons then went into syndication with Copley News Service in 1980. Unfortunately, I was laid off in the recession of 1981, which, fortunately, led me to create my first comic strip, "Fenton", which was syndicated by Field Syndicate. It had moderate success, but my love was still with editorial cartooning. When the position came open at the San Francisco Examiner in 1984, I went for it and somehow got it. I enjoyed a good run there until the recession of 1991 hit in the wake of the Gulf War. Learning from my previous experience with recessions and the lack of job security for anyone in art, I decided to make my way out before the ax fell and created Non Sequitur, which went into syndication with the Washington Post Writers Group in 1992. It was met with immediate success, but it's growth with a small syndicate was limited. When I reached that limit, I moved over to Universal Press Syndicate in 2000, where the strip now appears in 800 papers world wide.Now, of course, I taken a new turn in my career, taking a story I did in the Sunday editions in 2005 called "Ordinary Basil" and made it into my first children's book with Blue Sky Press (a Scholastic imprint). The second book in the series, "Attack of the Volcano Monkeys", came out a year later, with a third book now in the works.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent material... but only five minutes worth., April 21, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Why We'll Never Understand Each Other: A Non-Sequitur Look At Relationships (Paperback)

I'm a big fan of Non Sequitur. Wiley Miller's comics are top notch. But I should have checked out the "technical specs" of this book before buying it. There are under 140 pages worth of material here, and the physical size of the book is roughly three inches by three inches. In other words, each page is large enough to handle roughly one panel of one strip. NOT one strip per page, but one *panel* per page.

The material here is, as always, excellent. Mr. Miller has even added a narrative thread to the collection. Alas, I think the narrative thread in this case only serves to highlight how thin the volume is. By providing text to connect the dots between strips, the book encourages the reader to keep turning the page rather than stop and dwell upon each brilliantly illustrated observation. The result? It takes five minutes to read (the entire book!), and it all feels so very, very light. Given that these are Non Sequitur comics we're talking about, that's a bad, bad thing.

I made a mistake. I spent full book price on what turned out to be a pamphlet. If you haven't already done so, I recommend that you spend your hard earned money on *Non Sequitur's Beastly Things* instead.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, but it's actually a little-tiny thing, July 31, 2006

By 

R. J. Scanlan III (Woodbridge, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Why We'll Never Understand Each Other: A Non-Sequitur Look At Relationships (Paperback)

This is a good supplemental gift item. It's a pocket-size book of reprints from other collections in the tradition of those little inspirational booklets like "Happiness is a Warm Blanket" from Peanuts. However it has that extra loving touch of Wiley cynicism.

Seems to be the trend to warn people, and admittedly I was surprised when I got it, so here you go -- It looks like a standard newspaper trade paperback as presented on the site unless you "Look Inside" and notice the apparently huge text, so be warned (again).

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding relationship humor, August 6, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Why We'll Never Understand Each Other: A Non-Sequitur Look At Relationships (Paperback)

Non Sequitur and Pooch Cafe are my favorite strips. This is a SMALL book so don;t be shocked when you get it -- but the content is great.