This enormous book contains more than a quarter of a century's worth of Roz Chast's cartoons, all published in the New Yorker magazine. At 400 pages, it measures 9 x 11 inches, and the cartoons it contains are rendered in large size. Yet lest you think of it as a “coffee table book” that concept is the sort of pretentious possession that her cartoons would gently mock.

Chast's work is unique, and readers who do not recognize her name commonly will recognize her drawings, which have been widely distributed. The humor is understated, subtle, and ranges from perplexing to hilarious. Commonly, her cartoons are commentary on the weirdness of modern life. She has a talent for seeing the bizarre nature of mundane features of human existence, like a cultural anthropologist reflecting on the way we live ("we" being middle to upper class residents of North America). The satire is sharp, tongue-in-cheek, and ranges from gentle to biting. As for her drawings, they are minimalist. As a reviewer at Amazon noted “The pages swarm with balding, dot-eyed men, dowdy ladies in horn-rimmed glasses, and dumb kids with one protruding tooth. Background objects like floor rugs, lamps and couches are rendered as itchy glyphs.”

For example: A man sits on a couch with a thought balloon over his head: "Birth, bed, bath, beer, bankruptcy, bunions, bifocals, balding and beyond." In “The Greek Chorus of Apartment 7-H”, a family sits on the sofa watching TV. The Greek chorus trio behind them intones “While they are watching a reality show, polar caps are melting!” "What can be done about it? Maybe nothing!!!”

A cartoon titled “Required Seventh Grade Reading List” includes such books as The Red Badge of Boredom, Death be Not Monotonous, Silas Yawnfest, All Humdrum on the Western Front, Ennui Pond, and The Dull Man and the Sea. Another cartoon shows a car from behind, whose bumper stickers read: “Our Kid is an Honor Student”, “Our Dog is a National Champion!”, “We Never Get Sick!” and “We Have Money, and Lots of It”

A cartoon is titled “Thank -You Cards for Ralph Nader” (Nader being the “spoiler” in the 2000 US presidential election that gave us GW Bush). One card is headed “For You” and reads "Yosemite’s a shopping mall, the desert isn’t there at all. Alaska’s an amusement park, I guess you really made your mark. Thanks a lot, jerk.” Another Nader card, called “An Appreciative Note” reads When everyone can buy a gun without too much ado. A few will say ‘who paved the way?’ and I will think of you. Way to go, pal”.

In "How Much Should You Tip?" the cartoon informs us that for teachers, "20 percent of tuition at the end of the semester is the usual amount." And then there’s one of my favorites, “Diary of a Cat”: with the following daily entries: ”Today I got some food in a bowl. It was great! I slept some too!” The next day's reads “Played with yarn. Got some food in a bowl. Had a good sleep.” and the next day: “Slept, food, yarn. Fun! “ and then the next: “Had a good nap. Then food in a bowl. Then yarn. ..”

Ok, one more -- "Strange Proverbs". Among the words of wisdom: "The ketchup of sorrow is worth more than the mustard of happiness." "Three shoes do not a hat make." "A song in time is worth a dime." and "Hop before you skip."

Description does none of the cartoons justice. They are best read in small doses of ten or so at a time, since entering Roz Chast’s universe for an extended period is likely to dull the mind and alter one's perspective long term. Maybe that’s not a bad possibility. ( )

Comic Strip Series.

What ages would I recommend it too? – Adults.

Length? – Pages unnumbered. Each comic is one page or less.

Characters? – Multiple.

Setting? – Everywhere, including imagination.

Written approximately? – 1978 - 2006.

Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Yes. Many of these comics I do not understand. Most are not funny. They seem to be commentary, rather than funny.

Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? Are these comics supposed to be funny, or just comments? ( )

Roz Chast is consistently funny in an enjoyably bent way. Few other cartoonists make me laugh aloud, alone, in the middle of the night. This is a nice, big, chunky retrospective that will use up a certain amount of your otherwise productive time. Too big to read in the tub or to hide in a professional journal at work. ( )

I was SO excited when I found this book on a bargain shelf(!!!!). Roz Chast is BRILLIANT and this book is wonderful! There's so much in here that even if you read it cover to cover (cough), you can go right back to the beginning and do it again. It makes a great coffee table book, but I've found it more often on my bedside table...excellent way to end the day. ( )

This is a huge tome of very funny cartoons. My painful complaint is that there are no page numbers. Seemingly trivial but when my wife or I want to mark a cartoon for the other to see, we have no way to know where it is. (we bought some page markers to solve this). I am sure this will be dog-eared in time but right now it has it's hefty cover, thick glossy pages, and large format - a wonderful book that won't be exhausted soon. ( )