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The PreHistory of The Far Side® Paperback – September 5, 1989
Purchase options and add-ons
Copyright © 1989 FarWorks, Inc. All rights reserved.
The Far Side®, FarWorks, Inc.®, and the Larson® signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc. in certain countries.
- Print length288 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherAndrews and McMeel Publishing
- Publication dateSeptember 5, 1989
- Reading age15 - 17 years
- Dimensions8.5 x 0.9 x 11 inches
- ISBN-100062935089
- ISBN-13978-0836218510
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Though he loved to draw as a child, Larson didn’t formally study art, nor did he consider being a cartoonist. He graduated in 1972 from Washington State University with a degree in communications but took many classes in the sciences. In 1990, Larson received the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award and was the centennial commencement speaker. His talk was titled “The Importance of Being Weird.” His interest in science was a frequent topic in many of The Far Side® cartoons, which he created for fifteen years, from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995.
In 1985, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco premiered a collection of four hundred of Larson’s originals in The Far Side® of Science exhibit, which later traveled to science venues across North America, including the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. In 1988, Harvard professor Stephen Jay Gould, a prominent science writer and a member of the museum’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology, dubbed Larson “the national humorist of natural history” in his foreword to The Far Side® Gallery 3.
In another fitting tribute, the scientific community named a chewing louse after Larson (Strigiphilus garylarsoni), and paleontologists refer to the distinctive array of previously unnamed tail spikes on a stegosaurus as the “thagomizer,” thanks to one of his cartoons.
Larson’s work on The Far Side® has earned him numerous awards, including the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society in 1990 and 1994. The National Cartoonists Society also named Larson Best Syndicated Panel Cartoonist in both 1985 and 1988. In 1993, The Far Side® was awarded the Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip/Panel by the International Comic Salon.
In 1994, Larson debuted a twenty-two-minute version of his first animated film, Gary Larson’s Tales From The Far Side®, as a Halloween special on CBS television, and it quickly became a cult favorite. The film won the Grand Prix at the 1995 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France. That film and its sequel, Gary Larson’s Tales From The Far Side® II, were selected for numerous international film festivals, including Venice, Brussels, and Telluride, and were broadcast in various foreign countries. Both were produced with traditional cel animation, completely hand-inked and painted.
Music has also been an important part of Larson’s life. He started playing the guitar at an early age, moved to the banjo for a few years, and then ultimately returned to the guitar. Since retiring from daily newspaper syndication, Larson has focused his creative efforts on the guitar and his passion for jazz.
At the end of its run, The Far Side® appeared in nearly two thousand newspapers. It in turn spawned twenty-three The Far Side® books, including sixteen collections, five anthologies, and two retrospectives, twenty-two of which appeared on the New York Times Best Sellers list. Over the years, more than forty-one million books and seventy-nine million calendars have been sold, and The Far Side® has been translated into more than seventeen languages.
As for his inspiration, Larson often cites his family’s “morbid sense of humor” growing up and how his older brother loved to scare him whenever he got the chance. He was also once quoted as saying, “You know those little snow globes that you shake up? I always thought my brain was sort of like that. You know, where you just give it a shake and watch what comes out and shake it again.” He attributes much of his success to the caffeine in the coffee he drinks daily.
Larson currently lives in the coffee capital of the United States—Seattle, Washington—with his wife, Toni.
Copyright © 2019 FarWorks, Inc. All rights reserved. The Far Side® and the Larson® signature are registered trademarks of FarWorks, Inc. in certain countries.
Product details
- ASIN : 0836218515
- Publisher : Andrews and McMeel Publishing; First Edition (September 5, 1989)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 288 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0062935089
- ISBN-13 : 978-0836218510
- Reading age : 15 - 17 years
- Item Weight : 1.75 pounds
- Dimensions : 8.5 x 0.9 x 11 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #77,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #13 in Prehistory
- #167 in Comic Strips (Books)
- #2,414 in Humor (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Gary Larson was born August 14, 1950, in Tacoma, Washington. Always drawn to nature, he and his older brother spent much of their youth exploring the woods and swamps of the Pacific Northwest, and the tidelands and waters of Puget Sound.
Though he loved to draw as a child, Larson didn’t formally study art, nor did he consider being a cartoonist. He graduated in 1972 from Washington State University with a degree in communications but took many classes in the sciences. In 1990, Larson received the Regents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award and was the centennial commencement speaker. His talk was titled “The Importance of Being Weird.” His interest in science was a frequent topic in many of The Far Side® cartoons, which he created for fifteen years, from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995.
In 1985, the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco premiered a collection of four hundred of Larson’s originals in The Far Side of Science exhibit, which later traveled to science venues across North America, including the Smithsonian Institution and the American Museum of Natural History. In 1988, Harvard professor Stephen Jay Gould, a prominent science writer and a member of the museum’s Division of Invertebrate Zoology, dubbed Larson “the national humorist of natural history” in his foreword to The Far Side Gallery 3.
In another fitting tribute, the scientific community named a chewing louse after Larson (Strigiphilus garylarsoni), and paleontologists refer to the distinctive array of previously unnamed tail spikes on a stegosaurus as the “thagomizer,” thanks to one of his cartoons.
Larson’s work on The Far Side® has earned him numerous awards, including the Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year from the National Cartoonists Society in 1990 and 1994. The National Cartoonists Society also named Larson Best Syndicated Panel Cartoonist in both 1985 and 1988. In 1993, The Far Side® was awarded the Max and Moritz Award for Best International Comic Strip Panel by the International Comic Salon.
In 1994, Larson debuted a twenty-two-minute version of his first animated film, Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side, as a Halloween special on CBS television, and it quickly became a cult favorite. The film won the Grand Prix at the 1995 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France. That film and its sequel, Gary Larson's Tales From The Far Side II, were selected for numerous international film festivals, including Venice, Brussels, and Telluride, and were broadcast in various foreign countries. Both were produced with traditional cel animation, completely hand-inked and painted.
Music has also been an important part of Larson's life. He started playing the guitar at an early age, moved to the banjo for a few years, and then ultimately returned to the guitar. Since retiring from daily newspaper syndication, Larson has focused his creative efforts on the guitar and his passion for jazz.
At the end of its run, The Far Side® appeared in nearly two thousand newspapers. It in turn spawned twenty-three The Far Side® books, including sixteen collections, five anthologies, and two retrospectives, twenty-two of which appeared on The New York Times Best Sellers list. Over the years, more than forty million books and seventy-seven million calendars have been sold, and The Far Side® has been translated into more than seventeen languages.
As for his inspiration, Larson often cites his family’s “morbid sense of humor” growing up and how his older brother loved to scare him whenever he got the chance. He was also once quoted as saying, “You know those little snow globes that you shake up? I always thought my brain was sort of like that. You know, where you just give it a shake and watch what comes out and shake it again.” He attributes much of his success to the caffeine in the coffee he drinks daily.
Larson currently lives in the coffee capital of the United States—Seattle, Washington—with his wife, Toni.
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Gary Larson’s comics are funny because they aren’t obvious. They touch upon a concept such as how most human beings have a fear of being the oddball / not fitting in and he draws a cartoon with showing a conference and one audience member’s thoughts about how he feels weird because he’s the only one at the conference without a duck (you need to see the cartoon to get it). Or he draws a cartoon showing what it would be like if dogs drove cars and it shows all the dogs driving or riding public transportation with their head hanging out the window because dogs like to take car rides and stick their head out the window (I know, it’s unsafe and not recommended, but you get the joke). He has quite a few cartoons about hunting / nature where you can read the thoughts of the deer or the bear. I don’t get some of his cartoons, especially the ones that involve space aliens. This is a good book; get it and feel amused.
Note Bene: Growing up, I was a Garfield fan. I would also read “Cathy” as a third grader and think, “This is such fiction! There’s no actual woman who is constantly frazzled, stressed out, has a love/hate relationship with food, and who can’t find Mr. Right…” and then I turned 40 and realized, “I am Cathy with a cat.”
The PreHistory of the Far Side is a collection Gary put together on the 10th Anniversary of his globally loved comic strip, The Far Side. In it, he talks about how and when he got into comics ("You're sick! But I love your work!"), his view of comedy, particular strips that were milestones for him ("Cow Tools") and, my favorite part, the comics that offended people with some hate mail printed next to them.
I love comics and I always have, especially unique comics strips modeled for the newspaper, but I haven't laughed this hard at a comic collection since I was a child. Gary seems to me like a meek and mild-mannered character with a love of Biology (especially the gross/disturbing parts) but with a very grotesque and incisive sense of humor. With that in mind, it was fantastic to read some of his greatest hits (that we've all seen before), then read reactions/events behind the hits, then read his reaction to those reactions/events behind the hits and so on.
If you're a hardcore Far Side fan, buy this book. If you've gotten a single Far Side greeting card in your life, buy this book. It's hilarious and you won't regret owning it. For those that have purchased the recent "Complete Far Side" boxed set collection, that collection doesn't touch on some of the stories that Gary touches on in this book, so buy this book as well!
A joy filled with humor that hits the spot with all age ranges, The Far Side is an excellent gift, coffee table edition, and the perfect book to grab on a cloudy day. Each page contains something that leaves the reader either in complete disbelief, tears, or msniacal laughter. If you are interested in Gary Larson's work, this is the place to start, a purchase you will not regret.
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2017
A joy filled with humor that hits the spot with all age ranges, The Far Side is an excellent gift, coffee table edition, and the perfect book to grab on a cloudy day. Each page contains something that leaves the reader either in complete disbelief, tears, or msniacal laughter. If you are interested in Gary Larson's work, this is the place to start, a purchase you will not regret.
Here's a valuable nugget of wisdom gleaned from this particular book: Next time I see cacti at the North Pole, I'm gonna make myself a Tequila Sunrise -- on ICE!
Yes -- I've learned a lot of valuable "dos and don'ts," by perusing Larson's survival manuals! (Don't leave home without them!!!)
CASE IN POINT: Never again will I pick up random strips of (what appears to be) toilet paper off a public bathroom stall floor to employ on my privates -- you never know WHO it might be ATTACHED to!! (This refers to the unraveling MUMMY that might be sitting on the pot in an adjacent stall!)
Top reviews from other countries
dispiace non averliin italiano, ma molti serebbero incomprensibili.