{"product_id":"9780374298555","title":"Cartoon County : My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Cullen Murphy\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA poignant history of the cartoonists and illustrators from the Connecticut School\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor a period of about fifty years, right in the middle of the American Century, many of the the nation’s top comic-strip cartoonists, gag cartoonists, and magazine illustrators lived within a stone’s throw of one another in the southwestern corner of Connecticut—a bit of bohemia in the middle of those men in their gray flannel suits. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCullen Murphy’s father, John Cullen Murphy, drew the wildly popular comic strips \u003ci\u003ePrince Valiant \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eBig Ben Bolt\u003c\/i\u003e, and was at the heart of this artistic milieu. Comic strips and gag cartoons read by hundreds of millions were created in this tight-knit group—\u003ci\u003eSuperman\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Beetle Bailey\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Snuffy Smith\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Rip Kirby\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHagar the Horrible\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHi and Lois\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNancy\u003c\/i\u003e,\u003ci\u003e Sam \u0026amp; Silo\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eAmy\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Wizard of Id\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Heart of Juliet Jones\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eFamily Circus\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJoe Palooka\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Lockhorns\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. Cartoonists and their art were a pop-cultural force in a way that few today remember. Anarchic and deeply creative, the cartoonists were independent spirits whose artistic talents had mainly been forged during service in World War II.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIllustrated with never-before-seen photographs, cartoons, and drawings, \u003ci\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/i\u003e brings the postwar American era alive, told through the relationship of a son to his father, an extraordinarily talented and generous man who had been trained by Norman Rockwell. \u003ci\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/i\u003e gives us a glimpse into a very special community—and of an America that used to be.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Warm and graceful . . . [a] stylishly written and illustrated field guide to the American Cartoonist and his mid-century habitat.\" —Garry Trudeau, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A rich, clever, and affectionate account of a tight-knit circle of cartoonists . . . The art in \u003ci\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/i\u003e is as lovingly reproduced as the anecdotes.” —Dan Wasserman, \u003ci\u003eThe Boston Globe\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A lovingly observed tribute to that magical mid-twentieth-century never-never land (suburban Connecticut), where cartoonists of newspaper strips and magazine gag panels commuted to the top floor or the basement of their homes, or to nearby studios, to turn out a form of art that was, in its day, an integral part of American culture, rivaling today’s TV, cable, or the web. John Cullen Murphy was the illustrator of the classic \u003ci\u003ePrince Valiant\u003c\/i\u003e Sunday page, and his life, and that of his cartoonist friends, is recorded in anthropological detail in this beautifully composed and delightfully illustrated love letter from his son.” —Jules Feiffer, cartoonist and illustrator, author of the noir graphic novel trilogy \u003ci\u003eKill My Mother\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Imagine growing up in a bucolic Eden populated by dozens of oddball cartoonists and you’ll have some idea of what Cullen Murphy’s youth was like. In \u003ci\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/i\u003e, Murphy—son of the admired \u003ci\u003ePrince Valiant\u003c\/i\u003e illustrator—gives us a glimpse into the curious lives of these masters of pen and ink, and an unforgettable portrait of his father: independent, quirky, funny, and wise. A gem.” —Edward Sorel, cartoonist and illustrator, author of \u003ci\u003eMary Astor's Purple Diary\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eUnauthorized Portraits\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A lavishly illustrated memoir of the boom years of the American comic strip from \u003ci\u003ePeanuts\u003c\/i\u003e to \u003ci\u003ePrince Valiant\u003c\/i\u003e, as told by an insider.” —Tom Wolfe, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Bonfire of the Vanities \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Right Stuff\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“What a find this book is for anyone who grew up, like me, devouring the funnies, cartoons, and comic books. Where did all these delightful things come from? A lot of it was from one neighborhood in Connecticut. With wit, deep affection, and playful erudition, Cullen Murphy has sketched and inked the backstory of this unique literary and artistic subculture, and wrapped into it a colorful, loving memoir of his parents and their very large family.” —Mark Bowden, author of \u003ci\u003eHué 1968\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eBlack Hawk Down\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“An enchanting and irresistible memoir by the son of one of the great illustrators of the Connecticut School of artists. Cullen Murphy’s \u003ci\u003eCartoon County\u003c\/i\u003e takes us back in time on a sentimental journey to his childhood and a lost world full of innocent splendor and delight, and makes our hearts glow.” —Christopher Buckley, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Relic Master \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eLosing Mum and Pup\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Cullen Murphy and I grew up in Connecticut during a golden age of cartooning and share many memories of those spirited times. The colorful characters from this vanished era come back to life in this heartfelt family history, which is also an outstanding work of comic scholarship.” —Brian Walker, son of Mort Walker (\u003ci\u003eBeetle Bailey\u003c\/i\u003e), cartoonist, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Comics: The Complete Collection\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Part memoir, part cultural history, part treasure trove of drawings and photographs . . . and all thoroughly delightful as a celebration of the golden age of newspaper comics.” —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“[Cullen Murphy’s] memoir provides sharp but loving observations of the tight-knit clan that shared a strong commitment to family, a love of golf, and ‘that early-’50s Clark Kent-ish look’ . . . Nearly all the Connecticut School members are gone now, and newspaper comics, like newspapers themselves, are on the wane. Murphy’s paean to this bygone era and endangered art form make the reader keenly feel what’s been lost.” —Gordon Flagg, \u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Immensely evocative . . . [Murphy] writes with a personable mix of affection and realism that offers a vivid sense of what it was like to . . . be a working cartoonist in the decades following WWII.” —\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShort-listed Marfield Prize Finalist (2018)\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9780374298555\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40654206107854,"sku":"9780374298555","price":27.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9780374298555","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}