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Reviews
Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination by Brian Jay Jones
novelette's review against another edition
3.0
I had heard rumors of Dr. Seuss being one thing or another. It is nice to find out the truth. The story behind his name, and how he got started.
joraud's review against another edition
dark
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.0
stevenyenzer's review against another edition
3.0
Solid biography, although as with many biographies I came away feeling like I didn't really get to know Geisel. Might be suffering from comparison to my recent reading of The Power Broker.
bupdaddy's review against another edition
4.0
The most frustrating thing about the book is how often Jones describes wonderful Seuss drawings and watercolors, and how the book (must be for licensing reasons) doesn't have any. Most of the stuff he describes (and I'm not talking about the pictures in the actual books, because duh, they would be super-copyright-protected) you can't even find online. So it's frustrating to read about early animal creations that are the forefathers of different monsters that appear in his books or whatever and not get to see them. There's a thin section of black and white photos in the book with one political cartoon Geisel drew for a newspaper in World War II, that I'll hazard is public domain.
But the life told in this book is great. It's fascinating to learn he kind of accidentally ended up being a children's author. He wanted to be a cartoonist and/or writer, yes, but not for kids. But he wrote a children's book and came to love writing them - the challenge of them. Much harder than writing for adults apparently.
And thanks for helping push aside all the maudlin fussy boring books for kids, Doctor. Very cool of you.
Oh and props for overcoming racism. Most people don't.
But the life told in this book is great. It's fascinating to learn he kind of accidentally ended up being a children's author. He wanted to be a cartoonist and/or writer, yes, but not for kids. But he wrote a children's book and came to love writing them - the challenge of them. Much harder than writing for adults apparently.
And thanks for helping push aside all the maudlin fussy boring books for kids, Doctor. Very cool of you.
Oh and props for overcoming racism. Most people don't.
philibin's review against another edition
5.0
(4.0 Stars)
What a perfectly imperfect story about a man who was seemingly never too old to learn, who changed the world, as he himself changed.
It was, at times, very uncomfortable... But you saw growth. He was a delightful person who, either in spite of his flaws or because of them, was able to entertain and teach the world... and made it just a little bit better.
I learned a lot about him, his life, his times, and his ideas. This book should appeal to many people. lovers of art, of books, of history, of children. I really enjoyed it.
What a perfectly imperfect story about a man who was seemingly never too old to learn, who changed the world, as he himself changed.
It was, at times, very uncomfortable... But you saw growth. He was a delightful person who, either in spite of his flaws or because of them, was able to entertain and teach the world... and made it just a little bit better.
I learned a lot about him, his life, his times, and his ideas. This book should appeal to many people. lovers of art, of books, of history, of children. I really enjoyed it.