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Reviews
Cartoon County: My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe by Cullen Murphy
dogtrax's review against another edition
4.0
Although few of the comics mentioned here ever held my attention, I admired the stories of these cartoonists at work in creating a world of imagination, even as the reach of daily comics was fading. This book is a lovely letter from son to father.
stevendedalus's review against another edition
4.0
A memoir of privilege and the oddest industry told with a lot of fun and useless detail and stories, papering over a lot of the darkness, and only hinting at scandal.
It's exactly the sort of New England memoir you'd expect from the editor of The Atlantic, with an acknowledgment of the exclusivity and whiteness of it really only confronted in the afterword at the end.
But in its narrow aims, detailing the white male personalities and their art and the bygone histories of the newspaper comics era, it's tremendously entertaining. Murphy is a good writer and raconteur and you find yourself charmed.
It's esoteric and informative and a bit blinkered (admitting all the affairs and drink and exclusion only at the end) but it's a very in-group picture of a slice of life that feels very homey.
It's exactly the sort of New England memoir you'd expect from the editor of The Atlantic, with an acknowledgment of the exclusivity and whiteness of it really only confronted in the afterword at the end.
But in its narrow aims, detailing the white male personalities and their art and the bygone histories of the newspaper comics era, it's tremendously entertaining. Murphy is a good writer and raconteur and you find yourself charmed.
It's esoteric and informative and a bit blinkered (admitting all the affairs and drink and exclusion only at the end) but it's a very in-group picture of a slice of life that feels very homey.
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