Schulz and Peanuts
A Biography
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Schulz and Peanuts
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Narrated by:
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Holter Graham
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By:
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David Michaelis
About this listen
The son of a barber, Schulz was born in Minnesota to modest, working class roots. In 1943, just three days after his mother's tragic death from cancer, Schulz, a private in the army, shipped out for boot camp and the war in Europe. The sense of shock and separation never left him. And these early experiences would shape his entire life.
With Peanuts, Schulz embedded adult ideas in a world of small children to remind the reader that character flaws and childhood wounds are with us always. It was the central truth of his own life, that as the adults we've become and as the children we always will be, we can free ourselves, if only we can see the humor in the predicaments of funny-looking kids. Schulz's Peanuts profoundly influenced the country in the second half of the 20th century. But the strip was anchored in the collective experience and hardships of Schulz's generation: the generation that survived the Great Depression and liberated Europe and the Pacific and came home to build the postwar world.
Michaelis brilliantly weaves Schulz's story with the cartoons that are so familiar to us, revealing a man we've never fully known and shedding new light on a touchstone of American life.
©2007 David Michaelis (P)2007 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
Critic reviews
"This fine, exhaustive text is well-organized and knowledgeable....Michaelis offers considerable insight into the semiotics of comics and the psyche of a master of the craft." ( Kirkus Reviews)
What listeners say about Schulz and Peanuts
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Harald-Gerd
- 29-03-09
Are you a good man Charles Schulz ?
Yes, this is a very interesting audio-book but you really need to be into Peanuts to like it. Despite Sparky Schulz' great achievement of 50 years of Peanuts his life is not so spectacular. Of course: he spent most of his time at the drawing board. However, it's fascinating to understand the deeper meaning of the strip, of finding out how he came up with his ideas and characters. The book manages a good mix between Schulz' life and the coming to life of his characters. It surely is no adventure story, but an insight into the life of one the world's greatest comic artists.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lance Johnson
- 14-08-18
A look through the window of inspiration of Snoopy
Dear Great Pumpkin,
I remember reading a story and watching a movie about you as a child. Not only did it promote your existence, but promoted Halloween into a mainstream holiday and American values. It inspired many modern cartoons, including Garfield and the Simpsons. I read many comic books about you as a child and realised in many ways how funny and interesting you and your friends: Linus, Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the gang; could be. Much of it has dark humour, with stories of constant failure being presented in a funny way. I read a book by Kevin Hart the stand up comedian who says being authentic, using your real life situation, is the best way to create true humour. It connnects with many readers as many of they share those experiences, and perhaps can identify the funny side of reality.
I listened to this book by D Michaelis about the creator of your stories. The author tried to demonstrate the many real life connections that inspired Charles Schulz to create this unique sense of humor.
1. Charlie Brown: A person with constant failure, depression, with an iron will to succeed is based on the Schulz life and rejection. Named after a friend of Schulz
2. Lucy: Inspired by his 1st wife, a high demand personality.
3. Schroeder: Dedicated to his craft of playing the piano, as C Schulz was to comic strip writing.
And the list goes on.
Schulz family has protested this book, originally this book was to be an authorised biography, but due to its painting of Schulz as a depressed and unloving man, I suspect this was drawn. Nevertheless it is a book that gave me much insight into the characters in the strip, and the man who wrote them.
Let's be clear, Schulz (your creater) was not happy throughout his life- you can see how his comic strip illustrates Charlie Brown constant failure, girls rejecting him (The little red hair girl was a love interested of Schulz who rejected him), publishers rejecting him, settling for a lady who previously ran off with a cowboy and was pregnant with his child, and treated him badly (Lucy was based on her, this lady ran off with a construction worker), his affair with several women, his second wife was a lady who was married at the time of the affair. Schulz appeared to have taken these badly, feeling his self-worth go down. He failed to realise that self-worth comes from within, not from without.
He sought happiness throughout his life, although never to quite enter it. He failed to realise that happiness is not a goal in itself, but a by-product of our thoughts, beliefs, values, and labour.
He is another example on how money, fame, and women will not make you happy.
The answer of why this is, one cannot be too sure. The author of this points to the mother not being as loving as she should be to her only child, Schulz, or the death of Schulz's mother to cancer at a young age,
Whatever the true meaning, one can safely that the turmoil of C Schulz inner demons was reflected in the comic writing, producing a humorous, clean, and enjoyable read.
Charles Schulz was a brilliant man, with many tragedies. Reading this story has given me a deeper insight to my own behaviour.
PS: if you are not real, don't tell me, I don't want to know.
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