Schulz, peanuts

Charles Schulz did not drink, did not smoke, and did not swear. Picasso or F. Scott Fitzgerald he was not. Under the guise of a biography about a truly unique and Great American Artist, Michaelis masterfully illuminates the unassuming, poignant brilliance that is Peanuts.

More than Schulz himself, it is his strip, his life work for which he was fiercely competitive and exceedingly committed to, that emerges as the topic worth reading; and reading about. Michaelis has chosen an unexpected subject for such a long pages! As an artist, Schulz was a master of the minimal gag and displayed confidence with simple lines. And thusly Schulz did what most great artists do I think: make the most of their failures, shortcomings, foibles, and mistakes by resolving them in their art.

I think the only pure worship of God is by loving one another, and I think all other forms of worship become a substitute for the love that we should show one another. His willed mania demonstrates that people would rather live drunk on false belief than sober on nothing at all, at whatever cost in ridicule. Schulz is saying: be careful what you believe. Their art should be enough.

As it is with Peanuts. Jun 19, James Murphy rated it really liked it. Everybody loves Peanuts. The enchanting characters Charlie Brown, Lucy, Schroeder, Snoopy and all the rest speak a universal language we identify with. This biography of Charles Schulz reveals the times and personal influences on its subject as well as any I've read lately. In telling the story he spends about a third of its length on his childhood, which may be appropriate because that was the world Schulz dealt with in his strip every day.

Michaelis's analysis of his subject has to include a h Everybody loves Peanuts. Michaelis's analysis of his subject has to include a history of comics and their appeal as well as the social environment in which he grew up. It seems exhaustive. Despite the fact that Schulz may have been a bit colorless as a biographical subject, Michaelis does a wonderful job in capturing his times and the motivations propelling him, in immersing himself in the world in which he lived and taking the reader with him.

A second strength of the book is Michaelis's analysis of each Peanuts character. That alone, especially the examination of Snoopy, is worth the read. A third strength is that the biography is lovingly sprinkled with examples from the strip itself which, as well as charming us, illustrate how Schulz used personal experience in his work, so that an overbearing wife might be reflected in Lucy or a fire in his studio would be treated by Snoopy's doghouse burning down.

The weakest part of the biography is his affair with a young woman named Tracey Claudius in In describing the relationship in the idyllic way Schulz saw it, the writing becomes romantically supercharged. Forced to see his subject in those terms Michaelis is unable to lift the telling out of that bathos. But even after this the book fails to return to its former comprehensiveness, making it a little bit of a 2-faced biography.

Perhaps suffering from the excess of material celebrity can generate, the book remains mired in a narrative that skips too quickly from that milestone to this important highlight, like an outline.

The exhaustive flavor of the book becomes exhausted. But it soars for most of its length, dancing with the same light good-spiritedness as Snoopy. In fact, that mood permeates the book as a whole because Schulz seemed an unconflicted man. He suffered disappointments, may have had the football pulled from under him a few times, but the book doesn't emphasize those events or the stresses of business, or even spend much time on the emotional upsets.

Schulz displayed the same low-key tolerance and good grief qualities as his characters. Mar 18, Chadwick rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: people who love biography, people who love Peanuts. Shelves: comics , biography. This may really be the first critical biography ever written about a comics artist.

The format is revolutionary, actually using the strips to highlight the events of Schulz's life and how he expressed what he felt and thought in the day to day unfolding of Peanuts.

If Michaelis is right, and his extensive, exhaustive research seems to support him in this, Schulz may have been one of the most autobiographically transparent artists of the 20th century.

Some of his strips are downright creepy after This may really be the first critical biography ever written about a comics artist. Some of his strips are downright creepy after reading this. This book is flawed by the fact that Michaelis seems to lose interest in his subject when he attains relative happiness, skipping through the last 20 years of his life in a fraction of the space given to the first 60 or thereabouts.

He also does a disservice to the quality of his strips in his later years, in my opinion. They are less cruel, true, and a little more cute or gimmicky at times. But they also have the formal clarity of an artist at the very peak of his abilities, an almost calligraphic purity that I feel makes up for the lack of pain and reflection, at least from an aesthetic standpoint.

But otherwise, this is a damned fine biography. I understand that some of Schulz's family were unhappy with Michaelis's portrayal of their Sparky, and I can certainly see that. What we see of him is a bitter, vengeful, terrified man who had real difficulties showing and receiving affection. We don't really get to see the parts of him that made up to his family for all of that, we just have to take their word for it.

Honestly though, I can understand it if Michaelis raced to the end on this one. I mean, this doorstop is researched down to the molecular level. All in all, a grand achievement, and a book that really enriches my appreciation of the subject's body of work. Oct 23, Mikhail rated it really liked it Shelves: books. I, for the most part, found this book to be an enjoyable read.

I loved how honestly Michaelis portrayed Schulz as basically an asshole, because, it seems, that he actually was. My only gripe with the book is how repetitive it can get. Michaelis regurgitates a lot of what he already establishes earlier on in the biography i. Sparky's insecurities and self pity and etc. He even repeats comic strips even though Schulz had made 18, to choose from.

There were also segments in the book where in I, for the most part, found this book to be an enjoyable read. There were also segments in the book where instead of Michaelis describing a strip I would have rather seen it for myself, like Schulz's last strip. Michaelis also showed no restrain whatsoever in introducing so many people, most being unimportant, in my opinion.

I could never keep straight who was who in Schulz's family such ashis cousins and what not. I did, however, like a lot of the family dynamic, with Schulz's kids, that Michaelis brought up.

I wish he stayed more with Schulz's life and what as happening rather then dissecting Schulz's psyche over and over again. The book could have seriously been two hundred pages shorter, easily. Here is a biography ostensibly of two subjects; the clue lies in the title. Inside, Charles M. Schulz, the boy and later the man , is depicted as being impressively insignificant and insecure; whilst unsurprisingly the innate nature of the Peanuts cartoon strips are drawn from the values and family life experience of their creator.

Did I read a straightforward solution to that puzzle? Would I buy this book myself? David Michaelis proves to be expert of writing an awful lot of words about, basically, not a lot. The extensive list of source notes on pgs to is not designed for quick elucidation. Back on pg. This becomes all the more bittersweet when considered against the vivid factual paragraph pg.

Reading just that one paragraph will ensure that no woman over the age of forty ever voluntarily turns down the offer of a routine cervical cytology test. Forgive me that I felt less than overawed! I loved the cornucopia embedded within the following description of the creative process: of pencilled directions in code to the editor, of positioning tapes, and of other in-process esoteric scribbles and markings.

My mind cast back to the excited nervous energy exhibited by the handful of erudite scholars who can read ancient Babylonian cuneiform clay tablets.

For example, on pg. The sub-editor of this book must have been fast asleep having read too many pages? The second string to this book, the dizzy ascent of Peanuts in achieving very nearly but not quite complete world domination, is by contrast largely reduced to numbers. Schulz is saying be careful in what you believe. I must admit that as a child I always had a soft spot for the Great Pumpkin, and oh dear, this could be embarrassing genuinely believed that he?

Though not explicitly stated, by the end of this book Schulz appeared to have lost his Christian faith; despite for very many years tithing a sizable tenth of his income to his church. Or did such rapacious spiritual confusion flourish only later, ruthlessly exploiting failed marriage, family genetics, and deep seated insecurities?

Overall, this brick of a book left me wondering what was brick, what was dust, what was good, what was bad, … what was hot and what was cold other than California and Minnesota! Perhaps David Michaelis just might please! Jan 09, Lindsay Russo rated it liked it. I think the reason I had trouble getting through this is because I think Peanuts is depressing on the whole. It is a world where you lose your voice as an adult, girls screw with boys and a beagle's dream world is much more thrilling than reality.

The writing was stellar, and the hook of following the man from his first strip to his last was a great framing device for a man who is made out to be such an iconic figure. A true product of the Midwest's flat landscape, you have to look hard and clos I think the reason I had trouble getting through this is because I think Peanuts is depressing on the whole. A true product of the Midwest's flat landscape, you have to look hard and close at him to see the fractures and character.

As Michaelis looked at how Schulz' mother's death and experiences in World War II, the reader can see where the melancholy tone of the comics came from and why that tone never wholly went away.

His wounds were deep and could not be completely hidden in the simplicity of his work. Peanuts seems so much richer to me now, which shadows of death and war in every strip. And as I, like many, like the earlier work better than where the strip ended, I liked how the book did not shy away from how much looser and less focused the strip became as Schulz' life moved from the Midwest to new life he led in California.

To quote Rich Cohen in the LA Times, "He got better at being human right up to the moment he ceased to exist, but he lost his talent as he lost his rage and became less of an artist as he became more of a person. Feb 28, Jeffrey rated it really liked it Shelves: biographies.

As much as this book is getting negative reaction from the Schulz family as character assassination or whatever, I've really enjoyed reading. The way Michaelis pulls elements of Schulz's life from the actual Peanuts strips really pays off.

But whatever flaws he exposes Charles Schulz as having actually makes me like Schulz more. For a cartoonist who has perhaps been sainted or put up on a pedastel, this book makes him much more complex, and makes him above all human.

View all 3 comments. Jan 11, nicole rated it it was ok Shelves: There is a lot of detail from his birth and childhood, the influence and death of his beloved mother, his time spent in the Army during World War Two, his career and first marriage. However, well worth reading for the Peanuts fan. Dec 06, Allison rated it really liked it Shelves: non-fic. I admit that I'm not a die-hard Peanuts fan. I adore Charlie Brown and Snoopy, but I don't have such grandiose ideas about their creator to be put off by some of the less wholesome details of Charles Schulz's life.

I read somewhere that a few of his children were displeased with the way their father is depicted in Michaelis' book. As far as artists go, Schulz was a saint, never touching drugs or alcohol and cranking out over 17, Peanuts strips in his career.

The characters are so much a part I admit that I'm not a die-hard Peanuts fan. The characters are so much a part of popular culture that it's easy to forget that they came from one man's brain.

Much like his protagonist Charlie Brown, Schulz was deeply lonely, anxious, and sad. Michealis provides the reader with strips from periods of turmoil in Charles Schulz's life so we can see how much of himself he put into his work. Overall a fascinating look into one of the most influential artists of our time. Feb 28, Suzanne rated it it was ok Shelves: biography , non-fiction.

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Schulz Peanuts January 26, Ink on paper. Snoopy began using his imagination to dream of being a World-Famous Author, Flying Ace, and Joe Cool, among more than additional personas. Introduced to Peanuts as a toddler in , Lucy initially had round, doll-like eyes.

Following the suggestion of an editor, Schulz modified this, and began drawing half-circles on the sides of her eyes instead. When her brothers Linus and Rerun debuted, they featured this same physical trait. The comic strip was a gift from Schulz to his neighbor who also had children and reflected their mutual young families. Schulz Peanuts March 24, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts January 6, Ink on paper. Yet Lucy has her soft, vulnerable side. Schulz Peanuts May 19, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts December 13, Ink on paper.

Like his sister Lucy, Linus also debuted in Peanuts as a toddler. He grew quickly and became a close confidant and friend to Charlie Brown. Linus and his purity of heart helped make his belief in the Great Pumpkin conceivable to readers, along with other storylines that emphasized his varied eccentricities. Schulz Peanuts November 17, Ink on paper. In , Schulz briefly drew Linus with eyeglasses, perhaps as a nod to his intellectualism.

Schulz found, however, that glasses interfered with the expression lines, and quickly returned to drawing Linus without them.

Schulz Peanuts February 21, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts October 28, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts July 21, Ink on paper. Despite his popularity with fans, Pigpen was featured in just over of the 17, Peanuts comic strips that Schulz created. Schulz Peanuts August 18, Ink on paper.

Schulz Peanuts August 21, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts October 20, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts August 13, Ink on paper. Sally joined the Peanuts Gang as a toddler in Schulz saw charm in the way she humorously fractured the English language, and her school reports served as a basis for especially whimsical wordplay.

With all of her various peculiarities, such as talking to school buildings, her older brother Charlie Brown understood her no better than he did the other girls.

She is a favorite of many people because she is so uninhibited. Schulz Peanuts October 24, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts November 7, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts May 20, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts February 20, Ink on paper. A dish of candy inspired the name for Peppermint Patty, who debuted in The name derived from his then-recently married secretary, Sue Reichardt, who recalled being pleasantly surprised at finding her name in the cartoon. In the case of Marcie, Schulz named the character after a friend of his two youngest daughters.

The first two comic strips below are among the earliest Peanuts cartoons to feature Peppermint Patty and Marcie. Schulz Peanuts August 23, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts July 20, Ink on paper. Schulz Peanuts June 2, Ink on paper.