The blog of Richard Thompson, caricaturist, creator of "Cul de Sac," and winner of the 2011 Reuben Award for Outstanding Cartoonist of the Year.

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

The Blowhard's Reading Corner


Comics aficianado, scholar & journalist extraordinaire Chris Mautner asked me for a list of the books on my bedside table, which I'm assumably reading, for the weekly What Are You Reading over at Robot6. 

These are the books on my bedside table, though some are by my drawing board, because I sometimes read when I’m in the middle of a deadline. I left off some of the books my daughters have left there so nobody'll think I'm reading Twilight, Horse Adventures or Captain Underpants (which, ok, I've read four times).
  • The Art Forger’s Handbook by Eric Hebborn. Hebborn was a Cockney art forger and master of various art techniques who died under mysterious circumstances in 1996, and an entertaining writer. I figure this is a good skill to fall back on in case this whole cartoon thing heads south.
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’ve never read much Dickens and I started this a year ago and I’m enjoying it very slowly.
  • Ojingogo by Matt Forsythe. I just keep picking this up and looking through it over and over. It’s like a great silent animated fantasy you can hold in your hand.
  • Harvey Pekar: Conversations, edited by Mike Rhode. I’ve never read enough Pekar either, but I get a great introduction to the man in the 25 years of interviews Mike’s gathered here.
  • Scoop by Evelyn Waugh. I reread this every few years, like I’m doing now, because it’s the greatest comic novel every written, along with A Confederacy of Dunces.
  • Diaries: The Python Years by Michael Palin. Oh, this is fun to read! John Cleese says that Palin never shuts up, just yaps all the time. You can pick this up, read a few day’s worth of entries, and put it down a much happier man.
  • Ordinary Victories, Parts 1 & 2 by Manu Larcenet. I wish I could draw comic realism as well as Larcenet, and tell a story so interestingly.

8 comments:

Mike said...

Oddly enough, we were just talking about "Great Expectations" last night at the office -- a book I read every few years. And "Scoop" is one I have never gotten around to and that belongs on my bedside table.

So, if great minds think alike, I suppose one of us has fallen just a bit short, but really not by very much.

Anonymous said...

That image of Petey reading is wonderful and awesome and I want a giant print of it hanging on my wall now.

odessasteps said...

Is that Dikkens, the well-known Dutch author with two k's?

richardcthompson said...

Mike, It's probably me. But, yeah, you'd like Scoop, especially as a newspaperman. And, rare for an Evelyn Waugh book, it's got an almost happy ending.

Zack, thanks! Maybe I'll put one up on Cafe Press.

Odessa, maybe you're thinking of Dahl's Chickens, famous for children's literature and tasty chicken nuggetss?

Mike Lynch said...

The stuff that I read is such a hodge podge -- everything from Wodehouse to manga, all piled up on my bedside table. I'm relieved to see it's the same with you. I like the Reading Corner idea and maybe it's something you could come back to every 6 months or so.

angryparsnip said...

Like Mike, I really enjoy seeing what people are reading !

I'm with Zach that is a great image of Petey, love seeing kids reading...
but I still enjoy the "Alice and Tree" for the Tototo Project the best. I am a big fan of Studio Ghibli though, so I am biased.

Mike Rhode said...

If you nag Richard, he could use Zazzle and make Petey into a poster that you could then buy from him.

Lorenzo said...
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