Peanuts Papers, The: Charlie Brown, Snoopy & The Gang, And The Meaning Of Life: A Library of America Special Publication

Description

A one-of-a-kind celebration of America's greatest comic strip--and the life lessons it can teach us--from a stellar array of writers and artists Peanuts, Charles Schulz's beloved comic strip, has given the world a cast of characters for the ages--Charlie Brown, Snoopy, and Lucy among them. Here, in an unprecedented collection of thirty-two essays, artists and writers ranging from Ann Patchett to Chris Ware consider the deeper truths of Peanuts, its influence on their lives and on the culture more broadly, and the lessons it can teach us about disappointment, melancholy, and those fleeting moments of warm-puppy happiness. The contributors reflect on the experience of discovering Peanuts as a child, their identification with its characters and predicaments, and, for the artists in the book, the momentous effects of their encounters with the strip on their later careers. Taken together, the essays and comics of The Peanuts Papers enrich our understanding of the Peanuts gang and its world, with contributions not only about Charlie Brown and Snoopy but also Linus, Sally, Pigpen, and Peppermint Patty. The Peanuts Papers is an enchanting, poignant gathering of responses to the greatest American comic strip, enabling us to see it anew in fresh and revealing ways.

Andrew Blauner, editor, founded Blauner Books Literary Agency in 1995. He is the editor of six other anthologies- Coach; Brothers; Our Boston; Central Park; The Good Book; and In Their Lives; and is the co-editor of For the Love of Baseball. A graduate of Brown University and Columbia Business School, he is a member of PEN American Center and the National Book Critics Circle. His writing has been published in The New York Times, and he has appeared on a wide array of media outlets, including NPR's "On Point," "The Brian Lehrer Show," "The Leonard Lopate Show, and "About Writing" with Ben Cheever.

2020 Eisner Award Nominee NPR Best Book of 2019 Pop Matters Best Book of 2019 "If you obsessed over the comic strip Peanuts as a child - I mean: You lived and died with those characters . . . hark, the herald angels sing: You are not alone!" -James Rosen, National Review "This charming, searching book . . . is one of the more spiritual books I've read in years." -John Williams, The New York Times "Deeply personal and often moving, The Peanuts Papers shine a light on the enormous impact the work of Charles M. Schulz has had on a generation of writers and artists . . . and on the world as a whole." -Jeff Kinney, author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid "The Peanuts Papers supports the idea that we return to Peanuts for the depth and the recognition and the truth - and sometimes simply because, as [Kevin] Powell writes in reference to his own depression, Schulz and Peanuts still have the capacity to bring us 'tremendous happiness to this very day.'" - Michael Cavna, The Washington Post ""Peanuts" was one of the most influential American comics. A new collection of meditative, charming essays explores the strip's cultural impact." - Christian Science Monitor "A heartwarming tribute to Schulz's inimitable strip and the influence it had on its everyday audience." -Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Anyone who enjoyed the comics or TV specials will recognize their experiences in these pages and have their appreciation of Schulz's genius renewed." -Library Journal (Starred Review) "Top-flight...Essential reading for Peanuts fans and an appealing collection of personal writing for any reader." -Kirkus Reviews "A diverse and illustrious line-up of authors, whose thoughtful and heartfelt accolades attest to Schulz's enduring vision and his strip's abiding place in American culture." - Booklist "Reading this book was like finding a lost album of childhood photographs. It's an unexpected powerhouse of a book, and if Peanuts was part of your childhood, it will knock you out." --Caitlin Flanagan "Good grief! Who knew that a mere ( if admittedly great) comic strip, could inspire such great writing? The Peanuts Papers is an anthology unlike any other, to be treasured and earmarked." -Daphne Merkin "Writers of every age and stripe bring their own memories and imaginations to this classic strip-and in so doing so, show just how much they were inspired by it." -Cullen Murphy