Two Cartoon Collections

Bill Stott. The Crazy World of Gardening (1987) Any gardener will enjoy these cartoons, and non-gardeners who read this book will be glad they’ve avoided the pastime. One of my faves: Garden expert to troubled customer: “Yes, it’s a very common condition in plants that have been over-watered and kept in drafts. It’s called ‘dead’”. ***





Gary Larson. Wildlife Preserves (1989) The cover shows why Larson’s cartoons are still considered classics. I pretty sure he’s an acquired taste, though: the mix of logic taken to absurdity, disingenuous literalism, bland suburbanisms applied to non-human animals, allusions to scientific oddities, riffs on old movie cliches, and so on, doesn’t appeal to everyone. It does appeal to me. ****