Amazon.com Review: Before Yertle, before the Cat in the Hat, before Little Cindy-Lou Who (but after Mulberry Street), Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) made his living as a political cartoonist for New York newspaper PM. Seuss drew over 400 cartoons in just under two years for the paper, reflecting the daily's New Deal liberal slant. Starting in early 1941, when PM advocated American involvement in World War II, Seuss savaged the fascists with cunning caricatures. He also turned his pen against America's internal enemies--isolationists, hoarders, complainers, anti-Semites, and anti-black racists--and urged Americans to work together to win the war. The cartoons are often funny, peopled with bowler-hatted "everymen" and what author Art Spiegelman calls "Seussian fauna" in his preface. They are also often very disturbing--Seuss draws brutally racist images of the Japanese and even attacks Japanese Americans on numerous occasions. Perhaps most disturbing is the realization that Seuss was just reflecting the wartime zeitgeist.
Dr. Seuss Goes to War marks the first time most of these illustrations have appeared in print since they were first published. Richard H. Minear's introduction and explanatory chapters contextualize the 200 editorial cartoons (some of whose nuances might otherwise be lost on the modern reader). Those who grew up on Seuss will enjoy early glimpses of his later work; history buffs will enjoy this new--if playful and contorted--angle on World War II. --Sunny Delaney
Product Description: The bestselling treasure trove of World War II political cartoons by Dr. Seuss. For decades, readers throughout the world have enjoyed the marvelous stories and illustrations of Theodor Seuss Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. But few know the work Geisel did as a political cartoonist during World War II, for the New York daily newspaper PM. In these extraordinarily trenchant cartoons, Geisel presents "a provocative history of wartime politics" (Entertainment Weekly). Dr. Seuss Goes to War features handsome, large-format reproductions of more than two hundred of Geisel's cartoons, alongside "insightful" (Booklist) commentary by the historian Richard H. Minear that places them in the context of the national climate they reflect. Pulitzer Prize-winner Art Spiegelman's introduction places Seuss firmly in the pantheon of the leading political cartoonists of our time. 200 black-and-white illustrations.
History buff husband loved this volume! ^ My husband studied WWII history in college and is fascinated with all things from that time period. Our toddler loves the Dr. Seuss books, and this was a home-run Christmas gift received this year. Perfect for the history buff dad in your life.
entertaining and educational--the best ^ I really liked this book. I found it fun and educational. The whole point is the art. The book could stand alone without any additional comment. I found the commentary about right in length and tone, but this is a real judgement call. I was very interested in the evolustion of the message from before the war through the time that Seuss left the paper. I had not heard of the PM so that was another thing new to me. One additional cute personal story. I ran into the book at the lirbary today and read it in one sitting (not a problem with a graphic book like this). When I found it at the library, I remembered that I had purchased this book, but had not read it. When I pulled up the book here on Amazon, it told me that Ihad ordered it on December 24, 2007. Now, I hope that I can find my copy!
An excellent reference, but still incomplete ^ The cartoons collected in this volume are a fascinating retrospective of an early, and largely unknown facet of Dr. Seuss's artistic skill. While it is understandable that it was not possible to include all of Dr. Seuss's editorial cartoons in this book (about half of them are reproduced), it is very frustrating to read repeated notes in the text to cartoons that were "not included" - if they were important enough to be mentioned, they should have been printed, as well. What makes this worse is that large portions of the text are not commentary at all, but merely restate what appears in the pictures as published. It would have been much more efficient to dispense with the superfluous textual descriptions that merely parrot the cartoons, and concentrate more on the (very valuable) explanations about the background and the persons that Dr. Seuss has parodied in each drawing. Some of the most valuable comments include instances where the caption that was pencilled in by Dr. Seuss is different from the caption that was published. Unfortunately, these important references are not footnoted on the page of the affected cartoon, instead, they are left buried in the text. Happily, the book does (on the very last page) include an Internet reference to the University of California, San Diego, where one may (with a little dogged persistence) find a collection that includes all of the Dr. Seuss's editorial cartoons, including all those that were described, but not printed in this book.
A differnet view of Seuss ^ I was unaware of Dr. Seuss other than through children's books until an art exhibit arrived at a gallery in my city. It exposed me to the full life of Dr. Seuss and how he got started. This book provides both a narrative of his formative years and lots of political art he did in the editorial section of newspapers. It gives you an interesting and fuller view of the man and his life. I enjoyed it.
If you think you know Seuss -- but haven't read this -- think again! ^ If you think you know Dr. Seuss, but haven't looked into his earlier career as a talented political cartoonist -- then you don't know the full range of the Dr.'s work!
Baby Boomers who memorized Seuss' poetry more completely than almost any other texts on which we were raised will enjoy seeing how Seuss spent his "war years" in the 1930s and 1940s.
His sharp-edged sense of satire skewered the rising Fascist tide in Europe -- and he threw a number of well-aimed darts at the handful of Americans who were in sympathy with early Fascist aims.
Now that this book is in paperback, which means it's a little less expensive, it's a great choice for fun reading about "our past," it's great as a gift -- and it's great for discussion groups to read, especially if you like to chew over global issues in your group.
Although the subject matter often is dark -- this is not a heavy book and it's vividly illustrated with Seuss' cartoons!
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