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Syllabus: Notes from an Accidental Professor Paperback – October 21, 2014

by Lynda Barry (Author)

107 customer reviews

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An award-winning author provides the creative lesson plans and innovative writing exercises she uses in her popular writing workshop aimed at non-writers, which focuses on the connection between the hand, the brain and spontaneous images. Original.

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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 10 Up—Structured as a handwritten composition book, this title uses prose within a graphic context to serve as a forum to teach aspiring young authors. It's written as though a creatively minded person were keeping a messy journal filled with ideas, notes, and scribbles. This book presents an inside look into Writing the Unthinkable, the cartoonist's highly popular writing workshop. Neither a graphic or prose novel, it requires readers to jump around to different boxed areas of words, which resemble those in a textbook, but attempts to do so in a hip, visual, new way. The end result is discordant and sloppy and may confuse, rather than inspire, young authors. VERDICT Those unfamiliar with comics guru Barry's previous work may find the format and style of this title extremely jarring. Stick with her What It Is (Drawn & Quarterly, 2008).—Ryan P. Donovan, Southborough Public Library, MA

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“In recent years, Lynda Barry – half cartoonist, half guru, and entirely irrepressible – has created her own genre, handcrafting inspirational guidebooks about how and why to be creative… Scrawled out and doodled all over the page, collaged together with snippets of schoolwork, snatches of poetry, and drawings of weird-looking monsters, Barry's notes [in Syllabus] double as dispatches from a fertile unconscious, and testify once more to the unfathomable depths of human invention.” ―Globe & Mail

“Lynda Barry has spent the last few years blazing new trails in nonfiction cartooning with a series of books dedicated to illuminating the mysteries of the creative process . . . Once you pick [Syllabus] up, it's not easy to put it back down again.” ―AV Club Best Comics of 2014

“[Syllabus is] a must-read for Barry fans and deep thinkers.” ―London Free Press

“[In Syllabus, Lynda Barry] continues her investigation of what an image is. This book is charming and readable and serves as an excellent guide for those seeking to break out of whatever writing and drawing styles they have been stuck in, allowing them to reopen their brains to the possibility of new creativity. Readers can pore over the exceptionally gorgeous graphic mixture of collage, inking, and watercolor for hours.” ―Publishers Weekly (starred review)

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Product details

Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Drawn and Quarterly; Second Printing edition (October 21, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1770461612
ISBN-13: 978-1770461611
Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.4 x 9.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 107 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,360 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Publishers > Drawn and Quarterly
- #23 in Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Graphic Novels > Literary
- #84 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Fiction

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Victoria S-M.

this is a fantastic and fascinating peek into the mind of an artist ...

April 19, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

If you are a creative of any sort, this is a fantastic and fascinating peek into the mind of an artist who is both very imaginative and very organized - not a common combination in the general population. I love Lynda Barry so I was going to read this regardless but I had no great plans for the book other than to enjoy it. Instead, it became a sort of warm-up to my daily journal exercise - a totally unexpected source of inspiration and ideas for my own oftentimes lazy creative process. It was so useful that as painful as it was, I committed to reading it very slowly in order to prolong it's use as a daily class. But that's me. This could easily be read in a few hours and then read again. It's me who made it work but it's not - it funny, and smart, and thought provoking. It's wonderful.

8 people found this helpful

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January 27, 2015

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Lynda Barry is a creative genius and a force of nature. The text is 90% hand-lettered. Some seems rather quickly scribbled, so I found parts a bit hard to read. This slowed me down, but perhaps this may have been the author's intent.
Barry takes some drawing projects, with attribution, from Ivan Brunetti's text, Cartooning: Philosophy and Practice. Found this interesting as Brunetti insists that the reader proceeds through his lessons precisely as instructed, in the order instructed. Lynda Barry has a far looser take on education, and improvises as she goes along.
I teach cartooning classes at a university and relate to Barry's frustration with digital devices in class. The hand, she points out, is the original digital device. She also pleads with her students to document the totality their life experience, not to dwell on the boring bits. I could also relate to that. Too many students do lovely drawings documenting themselves and friends watching and complaining about the banality of TV.
There are many things that will prove valuable to teachers here, like her blue pencil project, and Barry's imaginative way of taking roll. Anyone teaching cartooning, writing, or creativity in general, will find this of interest.

27 people found this helpful

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Chelsea MB

A must for creatives!

February 15, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This book has helped me immensely with my creative journaling. Barry's insights about creativity and discovering your process have been invaluable to me. I'd recommend this book to people that are in a creative rut and need to look at their work with fresh eyes. I'm a writer and visual artist, so Barry's advice is dually applicable to what I do.

One person found this helpful

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pam

Organized. Hilarious. Supportive.

March 27, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Hilarious. Soulful. Practical. Kind.
When I opened Syllabus, at first I felt overwhelmed by the density of content on each page. That quickly shifted to amazement at how organized and simple the actual presentation is. Then it shifted again to enormous gratitude for someone who could compile this sort of support within the pages of a book. Such clear instruction. Presented in such a welcoming way. It's really hard to explain. Leave it to say: I have already gifted it to two of my pals and I am methodically moving through her syllabus and feeling lighter and more accepting of my scribbles everyday.

8 people found this helpful

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March 5, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I have never read anything by Lynda Barry and I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I never heard of her until I read a review on FaceBook by Theo Nestor on the book Demons. I absolutely love the book Syllabus. The cover and pages make you feel like you just found someone's notebook you glance though it to try to find out who it belongs to, and with each page you stop and try to take in all that is on that one page before moving on to the next. The cover and the pages are so inviting. And every page is so inspiring. I love this book. It definitely will not collect dust on my shelf! So happy to have found this author!

One person found this helpful

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nnnnmmm

has become a favorite.

September 18, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Has become one of my favorites. Love the doodles as well as the lesson plans. A must if you like writing and art. Lynda Barry loves what she does and I love that she has shared her process with us. The book itself is unique too.

2 people found this helpful

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May 25, 2018

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

I love this book! Lynda Barry is a brilliant artist, thinker, and teacher. In this book she shares writings, reflections, assignments, and projects from her time as a professor. Well worth it! Highly recommend the book!

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Kindle Customer

Great approach to teaching and students.

November 13, 2016

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Barry is so creative. I read everything she does. This a a creative take on designing a college class. Really a new and different approach to pedagogy...

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Most recent customer reviews

Sally Canapa

Five Stars

A treasure trove of ideas for college profs.

Published 1 month ago

Love Lynda!!

Lynda Barry is amazing! Awesome professor and artist. Great book and will always support her.

Published 2 months ago

Suzan Moody

Wacky, fun, educational

Fun. Wacky. Expands your thinking. Yes, I loved it.

Published 4 months ago

Joshua Gonzales

MEH

Published 5 months ago

Barbara A.

Pages 69-76 and pages 125-132 are upside down with half ...

Pages 69-76 and pages 125-132 are upside down with half the page missing. I see that other customers received the book with similar issues. Defective product.

Published 6 months ago

Squarecrow

Great Idea! LOVE Barry's work. She rocks!

Love this inspirational Art notebook by Lynda Barry. I use it in my college art classes. Students are inspired and appreciate the free-form approach to idea formulation, general...Read more

Published 6 months ago

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Perfect condition and very good price!

Published 9 months ago

Jane

Five Stars

Genius

Published 9 months ago

Amazon Customer

Odd but good but odd

A professor recommended this to me. It's really good, and I like Barry's strange perspectives. I'm still trying to get used to her particular mode of writing, but I really enjoyed...Read more

Published 9 months ago

human being

A must reference

Inspiring in so many ways! Highly recommend.

Published 1 year ago

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