Description

Tom Gauld has created countless iconic strips for the Guardian over the course of his illustrious career. A master of condensing grand, highbrow themes into panel comics, his weekly strips embody his trademark sense of humour while simultaneously opening comics to an audience unfamiliar with the artistry that cartooning has to offer. Funny but serious, these comics allow Gauld to put his impressive knowledge of history, literature and pop culture on full display – his impeccable timing and distinctive visual style setting him apart from the rest.

This postcard set celebrates more than a decade of Gauld’s contributions to the Guardian, with fifty of his most beloved strips, on everything from Samuel Beckett’s sitcom pitches (such as Waiting for Kramer, a show where two men await the arrival of a man named Kramer who never comes), ‘Procrastination for Creative Writers, a 10-Week Course’ and ‘Poetry Anthologies for People Who Don’t Like Poems’. Witty and beautifully drawn, The Snooty Bookshop will make you laugh at least fifty times, guaranteed.

Publisher Review

PRAISE FOR THE WORKS OF TOM GAULD: A collection of brilliantly off-the-wall cartoons * * Daily Mail * * Tom Gauld might just be the Edward Gorey of our time, channelling his wry humour and macabre aesthetic through exquisite black-and-white illustrations — MARIA POPOVA Each single-page piece is a clever, funny, slightly bonkers riff on a literary theme . . . Sublime * * The Times * * One of the best cartoonists around! * * BoingBoing * * Heartwarming * * Guardian * * At once hilarious and achingly melancholy . . . A quietly essential read * * Wired * * His economical art . . . is married to dry, incisive humor, making each strip a carefully composed marvel * * Publishers Weekly * * The ironic takes on key moments in history and literature (Armstrong on the moon, Cathy and Heathcliff wandering the moor) will certainly elicit a few laughs * * Vogue * * Gauld’s deceptively simple panels and sparse, understated dialogue speak poetically . . . Gauld finds humour and hope – as well as coffee and doughnuts – in his portrait of a fading utopia * * Guardian * * Precise and wryly hilarious * * NPR * *