Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up?: A Quasi Memoir (Hardcover)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The title of this book is just the kind of gag that made John Callahan famous: he can't stand up because he's paralyzed from the neck down. This "quasi memoir" is a collection of essays, gag panels, and comic strips that reveal the weird tragedies and amusing moments that come with being America's most offensive quadriplegic cartoonist. He includes cartoons that were deemed too tasteless to be printed in the alternative weekly papers that make most of their money from advertisements for strip clubs and phone-sex numbers that appear alongside the "anything goes" personal ads. There is also a collection of irate letters from readers who didn't "get" Callahan's jokes about disabled people, and letters of praise from disabled people who did understand his humor. Will the Real John Callahan Please Stand Up? is a must-have for Callahan fans as well as for anyone with a taste for excess and amusement.

Product Description

An automobile accident when he was 21 left John Callahan confined to a wheelchair, but his humor--and his spirit--have apparently known no bounds. This definitive autobiography of the cartoonist ranges wide and weird, revealing him to be at once adorable, sentimental, and depraved. The accompanying cartoons--many never-before-published--touch on such subjects as penises, death, Madonna, disability, and feminism National media publicity.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company; 1st edition (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688133398
• ISBN-13: 978-0688133399
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 8.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,064,451 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beyond compare..., June 28, 2001

By	"designsoup" (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews

Humor beyond compare. This book belongs in every nursing home, living resources center, self-help library -- not to mention on the nightstand of anyone who's ailing and needs a good laugh. A prolific cartoonist, all of Callahan's books are excellent, and none of the cartoons repeat in any of his several volumes. The vision of John Callahan is monumental. Don't miss the laughter; it will make you well.

5.0 out of 5 stars For Complainers Everywhere!, January 14, 2006

By	Katherine Graham "Katherine Graham" (Sparta, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I don't know about you. But I get sick and tired of asking how someone is - and getting a tale of woe. Perhaps I am a bit hard on them. But frankly, having lived amid the so-called differently-abled for about 20 years...it is so remarkable that they are the least likely to complain; love John Callahan's books; laugh at themselves; and give me (a so-called "normal") the courage to go on. Thanks John! But could you please write some more books? We all really need them!!!