Customer Reviews

The Wrath of Sparky

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"Isn't it sad that you had to learn it from a penguin?" could be the catch phrase for Tom Tomorrow's politically charged and well-informed cartoon-collage "This Modern World," as Sparky, the wrathful penguin with a bleeding heart, seeks to inform a happy-go-destructive clip planet of the real problems in the world, from assaults on the environment and on the poor, to the glib shallowness of mainstream media, to the covert plot of aliens testing human stupidity by posing as Republican Senators.

I say *could be* the catch phrase, because Sparky would hardly submit to being an overmarketed commodity only *pretending* to be a spokesbird for the disenfranchised (which maybe why he has been "right-sized" and replaced by a temp named Wilbur). The humor here is more than a glib acknowedgement of possible horrors of capitalism while the messenger gleefully participates, as you might find in certain bespectacled "leftist" commentators on television or equally bespectacled nerds and fat white dogs on the funny pages. Tomorrow is focused, informed, and right on target. While his ingenious comic doesn't solve anything, it offers a brief respite to those disenheartened leftists who think they are all alone in the world, and need a chuckle in between Lerner's latest and Chomsky's next.

Tom Tomorrow has a remarkable talent for using logic and fact where other writers would try to bluff. Unlike many liberal writers, Tomorrow has a full and complete understanding of capitalism and its role in politics. The art and humour are just enough to cushion the blow when Tomorrow reveals the evils committed by those who profess to serve. The work is intended for an American audience, but is relevant worldwide. For instance, Tomorrow's oft-made point about the American Federal Reserve maintaining *minimum* unemployment rates for the benefit of the wealthy is equally valid in Canada (thank you, Bank of Canada). Anyone with even the vaguest interest in politics or current events needs to read as much of This Modern World as they can get their hands on.

Tom Tomorrow sarcastically satrizes everything that makes up this modern world. His book is one that you can read four or five times over, and still laugh out loud every time. $8.95 is definitely worth this treasure

Tom Tomorrow is as far left as they come, but has somehow managed to keep his sense of humor. That's rare for any location on the political spectrum.

More importantly, it's valuable. Without the ability to laugh at ourselves and the follies of our society--including its "esteemed leaders"--we'd be in even worse shape than we are (if you can imagine!). You don't have to be a foaming radical to appreciate This Modern World, and even liberals may disagree with some of the anger that shows through these cartoons, but the wit and skill are unmistakable.