When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours: Joe Teller -- A Portrait By His Kid [Hardcover]

Teller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2000

On a visit to his elderly artist-parents, Teller found a dusty portfolio of cartoons that his father drew in 1939. Teller asked about the people in the drawings: the streetcar operators, waitresses, soldiers, bums. And Mam and Pad (Irene and Joe) began to unfold the hidden history of their world before their Bundle of Joy came along. Out came the Hobo Shoebox, full of letters Joe wrote while riding the rails during the Great Depression; their daring photos as art students, eloping to escape their feuding families; and the War Trunk. Readers stand beside Teller as Pad teaches him why using a ruler in painting is evil; join Mam as she interprets the designs hidden in Joe's "art pancakes"; and enter the world of a most peculiar, philosophical, funny, and loving family.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

When Teller, the quiet half of the Penn and Teller showbiz team, made one of his monthly Philadelphia visits to see his parents, Joe and Irene ("Pad" and "Mam"), he was shown 100 unpublished cartoons his father drew in 1939. These "wryly observed scenes of Philadelphia street life," as Teller describes them, are in a loose, sketchy style imitative of the great George Lichty (1905-1983), famed for his long-run syndicated "Grin and Bear It." Teller and his father's "memories began to pump and the stories flowed" after they opened boxes of old letters that Teller read out loud (learning for the first time about a period in his parents' lives that he knew nothing aboutAsuch as the fact that his father's name is really Israel Max Teller). Joe's Depression-era hobo adventures led to travels throughout the U.S., Canada and Alaska, and by 1933, he returned to Philadelphia for art study. After Joe and Irene met during evening art classes, they married, and Joe worked half-days as a Philadelphia Inquirer copy boy. When the Inquirer rejected his cartoons, he moved into advertising art just as WWII began. Employing excerpts from letters and postcards, Teller successfully re-creates the world of his parents in a relaxed writing style of light humor and easy (yet highly effective) transitions between the past and present. The book is illustrated with 20 of Joe Teller's paintings in color and 50 of his b&w cartoons, plus a half-dozen photos. (Dec. 4) Forecast: Fans of the Penn and Teller team are certain to take an interest in this entertaining and poignant book, with its striking father-son cover photograph, but since Teller chooses not to speak as a performer, how will he promote the book?
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Teller, the silent magician of Penn & Teller fame, has written a loving "portrait" of his father. Witty and humorous, Teller sets out to give us a glimpse of his artist parents and their bohemian lifestyle. His father, Joe, actually spent time as a hobo, traveling across America before finding his way to the art classes where he met Teller's mother. Joe and Irene soon eloped and settled down, never losing their creativity or enjoyment of life. From excerpts of letters that Joe wrote to friends and family, the readers discover what his life on the road was like. During World War II, Joe was drafted, and his letters home from the Philippines describe life in the service. Many of Joe's drawings are also included here, wonderful cartoons that merit a book of their own. This sweet tribute to a beloved father focuses only on a few major highlights of his life. Senior readers who enjoy light, fast reading will appreciate and identify with the humor of the Depression era. Recommended for larger libraries where there is interest.DRosalind Dayen, Broward Cty. South Regional Lib., Pembroke Pines, FL
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Blast Books; First Edition edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922233225
• ISBN-13: 978-0922233229
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,013,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific Tellers, November 23, 2000

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours: Joe Teller -- A Portrait By His Kid (Hardcover)

Besides being the smaller, quieter half of Penn and Teller, Teller does other things as well, and one of the things is write. He has written book and theater reviews, and such journals as _The New Yorker_ have published his essays on topics ranging from Jeffrey Dahmer, to his visit to Fallingwater or his reflections on performing his magic routine with Penn. And with Penn, he has written such funny books as _How to Play with Your Food_. But until I read _When I'm Dead, All _This_ Will Be Yours_, there was something I didn't know about bad-boy, anti-religious, and iconoclastic Teller. He visits his parents for a few days every month, and he calls them every evening. He loves his parents.

And, given his parents, he ought to; they seem pretty darned lovable. Teller's father ("Pad"), now eighty-seven, is the focus of this book. The title comes from what he said to Teller when they were excavating in the cellar for a flathead screw to fix the oven, among the collection of ball bearings, matchbooks, and old batteries. To Teller's surprise, on one visit, his dad asked if he had ever seen his cartoons. Teller knew his dad drew, painted in oils, and sculpted, but he didn't know his dad had ever drawn cartoons. They retrieved a bundle of cartoons from the attic, drawn in the pre-Teller days of 1939. It was Teller's first introduction to how his parents had lived before he had come along, and it sparked reminiscences that turned into the prose of this delightful little book. The illustrations are Joe Teller's cartoons, often directly related to the stories, and also color reproductions of his paintings.

Not only come the cartoons from the attic, but also emerges the Hobo Shoebox, ten pounds of letters and postcards which "Sonny" had sent his family as he tramped around depression-era America, riding the rails to every one of the forty-eight states. And the memorabilia from World War Two. Teller has a lot to learn.

Teller's parents met in art school, and painting has been essential to their lives together. When Teller came along, they bought the row house they still inhabit in Philadelphia, and although Pad had to take a job in commercial art, he always kept an oil painting on the easel. These days, he and Teller's mom, "Mam," trot up to the attic studio every day to work on their paintings, Mam at her easel and Pad at his. They have never tried to sell any, but the paintings reproduced in the book are quite good. The pair are devoted to painting, and clearly to each other, and just as clearly to their talented son, of whom they are proud.

This is a charming book, a loving tribute from a son to his parents, especially his dad. Delightful.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The raconteur carries on into the 21st century in style!, December 14, 2000

By 

Soso R. Whaley (Kensington, NH USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours: Joe Teller -- A Portrait By His Kid (Hardcover)

According to Webster's New World College Dictionary a raconteur is "a person skilled at telling stories or anecdotes". Stories and anecdotes are usually transmitted verbally but this new book by writer and magician, Teller, brings the art of the raconteur to life through the written word. Much more than a biography of his father, Joe (Pad), and mother, Irene (Mam), this book opens a door to the past and gives us a remarkable glimpse into the lives of two very talented and intelligent people who raised a remarkable son.

In true raconteur style, Joe Teller shares stories and letters he wrote while "riding the rails" during the great Depression, why he eloped with Irene, and tales from World War II. The letters are often written in a very pleasing style and contain such pearls of wisdom as "Harder the work, so the lesser the pay. Thus philosophically, hard work is play." Not only are we privy to the inner workings of the mind of Joe, but his kid has also given us a visual treat with the reproductions of over 70 original cartoons, paintings and photographs which help to make this book even more delightful.

Though the book is subtitled "Joe Teller - a portrait by his kid, Teller", I must give mom, Irene credit for her own contributions through stories and artwork. In my mind I see Joe and Irene as loving, equal partners in their journey through life, and it is obvious that they have enriched the life of their son, the greatest gift a parent can give. I too feel that my own life has been enriched by learning just a little about these two wonderful people even if it is only through this loving tribute.

No matter what your reading preference is, history, art, humor, stories, poetry and more you will find it in "When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours". Thank you so much Joe, Irene and Teller for sharing with all of us.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real good feel good book, September 20, 2001

By 

Mediahound (SF Bay Area, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: When I'm Dead All This Will Be Yours: Joe Teller -- A Portrait By His Kid (Hardcover)

This is a good 'feel good' book. It's not without good humor, storytelling and charm, done in a entertaining and non-campy way. While the plight of Teller's parents is not unique among Americans who's formative years were spent around the time of the Great Depression, Teller's way of telling the story is. He interweaves his father's original cartoons and letters with his own insights to provide a sum maybe equal to something greater than the parts alone-a nice collaboration.
All the Tellers seem very genuine. Reading this book makes me want to know them more. You get a real sense of Teller's parents and their personalities, I almost feel like I've spent a weekend in their home. They sure seem like good people.