Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, Health-inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006 by David Remnick

Theories of Everything: Selected, Collected, Health-inspected Cartoons, 1978-2006 Reviews

• 
  Yair Ben-Zvi

  This one took me a while, and in a few ways, some even ironic. Firstly, it's a long edition (mine ran into 400 pages) and secondly....in all honesty, I think this is a collection meant to be taken gradually or, as Amos Oz might say, in 'little sips'. And I'm glad I read this collection as I did because I truly believe that I've come away with something special, even singular.
  
  Roz Chast, to paraphrase one of the blurbs on the book, truly is a master of a nearly lost art form (the single or close to single panel comic) and this collection really showcases this mastery. Though her content might not be the most initially 'exciting' there's a gradual compulsion (birthed from a neurotic's view of the world) that will slowly seize you the further into this collection you read. The best analogy I can come up with is if Kafka had a more secure life (financially a tad, socially a tad, and with reality a bit) then I think we'd have something at least of the same species as Chast. But that's the thing, she's very unique. Whereas some writers would problematize everything in the modern world as grist for the paranoiac mill, Chast does this...but somehow still leaves you smiling because of it. It's not because she makes the world (or the United States) look particularly warm or welcoming, far from it. But rather what Chast does is let us know that there are people out there thinking as the nervous think and trying to cope as the nervous do, that is, through struggle and attempts at comprehension. And the terminal smiling (what a phrase) comes from that mutual understanding, that reciprocity, that knowing, truly, one of us is documenting the not so subtle neuroses of our age.
  
  So, while not a blockbuster work in any sense Chast has given us a collection (culled from decades of work, so be patient with it) that assures as it condemns, inspires (not hope, but at least relief) as it castigates, and overall I think this is a graphic novel not only worth your time but worth you admiration as well. You are not alone in knowing this world is falling apart.
• 
  Mily

  love
  love
  love
  LOVE Roz Chast.
  
  Any New Yorker reader will enjoy this all RC all the time!
  400 pages.
  It's huge and it's hilarious.
  
  The more neurotic you are the more you'll love it.
  And I really loved it.
  
  That is all.
• 
  Po Po

  Theories of Everything pokes fun at... well... everything.
  
  RC's simple illustrations and snappy captions uniquely showcase modern-day absurdities and expose human frailties in a compassionate and fresh yet strangely familiar way that resonates with the heart and mind.
  
  Many of the comics are small, only a quarter to a half-page whereas others are much longer at four full pages.
  
  A few of these are literally laugh-out-loud funny, but there were groaners thrown in. And then there were others which left me contorted in the uncomfortable shape of a question mark. Maybe you have to be an actual New Yorker living in NYC (and not just in an outlier town) to "get" some of these.
  
  I couldn't read more than several at a time because of the lack of continuity in subject matter. [This would make an awesome (and large) laugh-a-day calendar though.] A good choice if you have only a spare moment here and there as it has natural start / stop points --can easily be picked up and set down repeatedly.
  
  A hefty volume; witness your arms miraculously transform from flab to fab.
  
  
  
• 
  Negin

  Roz Chast wrote "Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?" - a wonderful cartoon memoir of her aging parents, an absolute must-read in my opinion, hence why I chose this book. I probably read it all wrong and should have spent more time on it, reading it slowly while reading other books. I don’t think that this collection of cartoons (400 pages) is meant to be read all at once. However, even if I had taken my time with this, I can’t imagine giving it more than 3 stars. Some of the cartoons were funny, but not particularly funny for me. I was disappointed. At least I didn’t pay full price for it and bought it used.
• 
  cheeseblab

  Did I ever mention meeting Roz Chast? Oh, I did? Well, never mind then.
  
  The only thing that keeps this from being the Best Bathroom Reading of the Year is that it weighs about 8 pounds and is really bulky and sometimes hard to keep balanced when you have other things on your mind. But good lord, this woman is funny--funnier now that I live in Connecticut than she was when I lived in Illinois. Funny, that.
• 
  Anne

  OMG, I fell over in the bookstore when I saw this mighty tome of all things Chast. There's something about her deceptively amateurish-looking toons that always tickles and enlightens me, and I seem to know her people. Um, maybe I even AM one of her people. Erk.
• 
  Anne

  Roz Chast is a gem. Makes neurosis fun!
• 
  Julianne

  This book is relentless. Everyone in it is a bourgeois New Yorker, and it frequently disregards the fact that a “Great Outdoors” even exists. (Guaranteed to make outdoorsy types cry: “Nature Girl and the Four Elements.”) But some of it was funny. Some of it was very funny. Sometimes it was just absurd (I especially liked “Rogue Salad Bar” and “Parallel Universes”), and sometimes, beneath the absurdity and acerbity, it actually reveals something potentially profound about our culture or how we see ourselves (as is the case in the cartoon depicting a monumental statue of a high-heeled businesswoman holding a briefcase and captioned, “Doris K. Elston: Brain Surgeon, Professional Model, Artist, Lawyer, plus Mother of Four”). The only caveat, I would say, is that it costs $45.00—far too much for a book without page numbers, in my opinion. Best enjoyed on a trip to the library, for sure.
• 
  April Brown

  Comic Strip Series.
  
  What ages would I recommend it too? – Adults.
  
  Length? – Pages unnumbered. Each comic is one page or less.
  
  Characters? – Multiple.
  
  Setting? – Everywhere, including imagination.
  
  Written approximately? – 1978 - 2006.
  
  Does the story leave questions in the readers mind? – Yes. Many of these comics I do not understand. Most are not funny. They seem to be commentary, rather than funny.
  
  Any issues the author (or a more recent publisher) should cover? Are these comics supposed to be funny, or just comments?
• 
  Elizabeth A

  This is a collection of the author's cartoons and covers her work from 1978 to 2006. That is a huge span of time, and while this is a good introduction to her body of work for someone like me who had not read her standalone cartoons, it suffers for the same reason that most collected works do. There are sublime pieces, really funny ones, and ones that were simply meh. Some of the things that go on in her head made me laugh out loud, but overall I did not love this collection. Still, 3 stars means I liked it, and think it is worth a read.
• 
  Trin

  
  Roz Chast is one of my favorite cartoonists; her work is just the perfect blend of neurotic anxiety, literary humor, and utter wackiness. This is a really great collection, too: 400 pages spanning her entire career, including many of my personal favorites. (Pollyanna in Hell! Yay!) Highly, highly recommended.
• 
  Elsa

  I actually didn't enjoy this so much, because I didn't realize it was a compilation of her other books, so I had recently read them all and I wanted something I hadn't read before. BUT, because it is Roz Chast, and I love her humor, I can't give it anything less than five stars, because this is all five star material.
• 
  Susan Liston

  This is a wonderful book. I can't say I completely get every single cartoon,( but some were in The New Yorker, after all, and I don't think you are supposed to get those). Of course we don't all have the same sense of humor but I happen to think Roz is hilarious and delightful and incredibly clever.
• 
  Jeff

  The best living New Yorker cartoonist finally has a book big enough to convince anyone that you either get her work, or else you're a giant worthless stick in the mud. Or whatever. But I know where I go when I need a good laugh from a book..
• 
  Emilia P

  YAY. She's great. This book is great. The world is a mess and ridiculous and people are silly and they get mad and frustrated all the time about silly things. This book would be worth owning. New York-y in the best way.
• 
  Amanda

  I like Chast's regular cartoons much more, and found myself giggling through some of these over breakfast and forcing Chad to look at the ones that represented me. After seeing Chast, they became even funnier moments. I think that she might be one of the funniest women alive.
• 
  Jessica

  This is the greatest book ever written. I'm not kidding. What could possibly be better than a giant book full of Roz Chast cartoons?
• 
  Sue

  Oh, my gosh. She has one cartoon about funny-named towns in Arkansas. I'm going to do one about funny-named towns in Georgia, to emulate her. She is so funny!
• 
  Alison

  More of a scan than a reading. It's like the author was trying to be like Addams but not getting there. Just not my humor, I guess.
• 
  Kirsti

  Includes Passive-Aggressive Birthday Gifts (Li'l Smelter! Floozy Factory!), Extremely Practical Jokes (Trick Vitamin Gum! Dental X-Ray Specs!), and _Schadenfreude Monthly_ magazine.
• 
  Melanie Linn

  Hilarious. I was laughing out loud (and scaring my poor family). Roz Chast makes living with anxiety funny.
• 
  Unigami

  I didn't really care for these very much...a few were interesting, a few were kinda funny, but most of them just left me completely unmoved and wondering what the point was.
• 
  pati

  Thought provoking, mind boggling and outright goofy -- I loved reading this book!
• 
  Erik

  Definitely for a very specific audience. I didn't find a single funny thing in this entire huge book.
• 
  june3

  So much Roz Chast in one place, what could be better?
• 
  Emily

  I encountered cartoons by Roz Chast back in the 1980's in Seventeen magazine. They made fun of things while capturing teen anguish to a T. For example, I remember the two teenage protagonists needing jobs and aspiring to something glamorous, but ending up at a mall-food-court hot dog stand, wearing ridiculously unattractive uniforms. Years later, I have caught up with Roz Chast again, via this collection of her cartoons for the New Yorker magazine. I spent a great deal of time laughing.
  
  Roz Chast points out our human foibles, insecurities, inconsistencies, and absurdities. A recurring theme is motherhood, often focusing on how hard we can be on our own mothers and moms in general. These titles will show the gamut: Bad Moms Magazine: Special Holiday Issue; Healing Truth Mother's Day Cards; The Big Book of Parent-Child Fights; The Cab of Guilt; Bad Mom Cards: Collect the Entire Set!; and The Adventures of Wimp Mom.
  
  Another great theme is boring clothes, as seen in Woodwork Clothes for People Who Want to Blend Right In, Frederick's of Winnipeg; Cozy Cardigan; and Safari Clothes "for people who aren't going anywhere".
  
  Chast does a great job of pointing out little things I think about but wouldn't discuss because they're too silly, such as Safety Tips from the American Council to Avoid Static Shocks; Schematic Map of Miss Mathilda's Afternoon Assortment of Bonbons.
  
  And last but not least, many cartoons made me feel that Chast has officially validated my laziness: Archaeology of a Kitchen Sink; Bad Housekeeping: The Magazine for Women Who Couldn't Care Less; and Recipes from the "I Really, Really Hate to Cook" Cookbook.
  
• 
  Cheryl Gatling

  I am of course familiar with the cartoons of Roz Chast. Anyone who has picked up the New Yorker has seen them. But I hadn't seen enough to come to know Roz Chast as Roz Chast. Now I have.
  
  At the beginning of the book I was somewhat bewildered. Huh? This isn't funny. I don't get it. But as the book went along, I liked the cartoons more and more. I didn't know if that was because the artist grew into her more mature work, realizing her strengths, or whether I came to appreciate her quirky view of things, or both.
  
  It is indeed an odd little world, mostly a New York City world, where the demands of parents, and spouses, and unsatisfying jobs, and uncooperative children, and annoying neighbors overwhelm. And then there's the inner dialogue.
  
  I enjoyed the fake books, fake greeting cards, fake magazines, fake trading cards. But my favorite cartoons were the real-life stories, very wordy, with many small panels spilling over from page to page. I think the best way to appreciate the book is to take it in small doses, but I couldn't help myself. I always wanted to read just one more, just one more.
  
  The thing I liked least about this book is that the print was sometimes too small for my middle aged eyes. The thing I liked best is that it is so thick that there was a lot to enjoy.
• 
  Patrice Sartor

  For hardcore fans of Roz Chast, I imagine this book is a godsend. My only prior experience with Chast is
  Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?, and since I liked that one so much, I assumed I would also like this one. That was not the case, for the most part.
  
  The cartoons are mostly commentary and brief opinion pieces, which I didn't find humorous. Maybe they were funny (funnier?) when originally published, I don't know. I did like them more as the (very large, quite heavy) book progressed. My favorites were the ones with an autobiographical slant, similar to the book I mentioned above.
  
  For fans, you'll love it. For others, your mileage may vary.
• 
  Mark Schlatter

  This is a very nice volume of (relatively) early Roz Chast New Yorker cartoons, from her first fairly surrealistic piece to later more autobiographical cartoons. There's a lot to like, but I will easily admit my love for her more mathy cartoons, including two on very silly prices for chicken (which I can't find online),
  The Kid Who Learned About Math On The Street, and
  11th Grade Math For Nincompoops, which features an excerpt from an actual textbook covering rational functions.
• 
  Peter Herrmann

  With so many of these cartoons she has captured the aspects of life and surroundings that I've been dimly or fleetingly aware of - just beneath the surface thoughts, that I never stopped to consciously dwell on. And with many others, she sees things in people & life & surroundings, that I was never aware of at all. Either way, she is brilliant. And funny. Some reviewers here said they didn't understand most of the cartoons. Or find them funny (I guess if you didn't understand them, you wouldn't find them funny). I guess that's one major way in which people are different ... you're either on Chast's wave-length, or you're not.