Jules Feiffer Books In Order

Novels

  1. Ackroyd (1977)
  2. A Room with a Zoo (2005)
  3. Harry, the Rat with Women (2007)

Collections

  1. A Barrel of Laughs (1995)
  2. Passionella (2006)

Plays

  1. Grown Ups (1982)
  2. Elliot Loves (1990)
  3. Little Murders (2011)

Picture Books

  1. The Man in the Ceiling (1987)
  2. Bark, George (1991)
  3. Meanwhile…. (1997)
  4. I Lost My Bear (1998)
  5. I’m Not Bobby! (2001)
  6. By the Side of the Road (2002)
  7. The House Across the Street (2002)
  8. The Daddy Mountain (2004)
  9. Smart George (2020)

Graphic Novels

  1. The Great Comic Book Heroes (2008)
  2. Kill My Mother (2014)
  3. Cousin Joseph (2016)
  4. The Ghost Script (2018)

Non fiction

  1. Feiffer’s Children (1986)
  2. Feiffer : The Collected Works Vol 1 (1989)
  3. Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-1966) (2008)
  4. Backing Into Forward (2010)

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Jules Feiffer Books Overview

A Room with a Zoo

Julie wants a dog more than anything in the world, but her parents won’t let her have one until she’s old enough to walk it by herself. Julie does manage to collect some other pets while she waits, though: a sick cat, a hamster, a big, ugly fish, six smaller fish to keep the big fish company, a turtle, a strong minded kitten, an unresponsive hermit crab, and a borrowed classroom rabbit that seems to be dying. All in one bedroom. Is enough ever enough for this critter connoisseur?

Harry, the Rat with Women

A satirical novel about the downfall of a narcissistic lothario. Jules Feiffer’s first satirical novel follows the humorous, existential rise and fall of a narcissistic lothario, Harry, from influential high society hanger on to suicidal cipher. Harry is ‘blessed’ by his family’s endless bounty of love and hope, raised to believe he is the embodiment of perfection beautiful, infallible, irresistible. So great are their expectations that he will provide for them in the future that he is given everything he could ever need. He is kept comfortable and protected at every step of his childhood: ‘The Harry Fund’ is established by his relatives to ensure that he need not worry about money in his younger years, as they are certain the returns on this ‘investment’ will be exponential. Harry, of course, develops an extraordinarily ‘healthy’ ego. Everyone else is so focused on his development that he can only focus on himself as well. Maturing into adulthood, he gorges on the love and attention of others while never reciprocating. Those around him, in their insecurity, find this terribly attractive especially women. The physical beauty and aloofness he radiates appears as strength and Harry finds he can use women to maintain his decadent lifestyle in the midst of New York elite social circles. When one woman can no longer serve him, he simply moves on to the next; burning through their money with abandon. Feiffer’s brilliant modern fable comments less on the anomie of narcissism and more on the insecure desire of the world to find a charismatic messiah. Persuaded to become the attractive face on an idealistic political movement, Harry, finally, realizes the immense power and effect he can have on others. He also realizes that he has not truly experienced and that he is incapable of human connectedness. The novel reaches it crescendo when Harry attempts to leave his oblivious, self obsessed ways behind: he begins to lose himself his entire personality shatters; his looks begin to fail; women reject him!Originally published in 1963, Harry the Rat With Women is a typically scathing satirical tour de force in the tradition of Little Murders and The White House Murder Case, a wry, hilarious commentary on the American public’s seemingly endless love affair with chiselers and rats more relevant now than ever.

A Barrel of Laughs

Prince Roger sets out eagerly on a quest and finds a few adventures, a lot of friends, a damsel or two in distress not! and himself, in the end. A carrier of joy whose mere presence causes everyone to laugh uncontrollably, Roger finds cruelty and kindness equally amusing, and expects his quest to be a lark. It’s anything but: As Roger pas*ses through the Forever Forest, nearly starves at the Dastardly Divide, sees people at their worst in the Valley of Vengeance, and temporarily despairs in the Mountains of Malice, he sobers up, learns to care for others, becomes an expert peacemaker, does Good Deeds, and falls in love with Lady Sadie, who says what she thinks as she repeatedly saves his bacon. K. Feiffer s worldly wise, confiding tone and sense of the absurd are highly congenial, and the drawings are a vintage Feiffer delight. Publishers Weekly. 100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1995 NY Public Library

Passionella

Presenting the complete works of one of America’s great satirists.

Feiffer: The Collected Works is a projected 15 volume series bringing together all the cartoons, plays, screenplays, articles, essays, and other writings of one of America’s greatest political and social satirists. Volume 4 collects more of Feiffer’s great comic strip Sick, Sick, Sick later renamed Feiffer, the author’s first strips for Playboy magazine, and Feiffer’s satire on Hollywood sexuality, Passionella.

Feiffer has had one of the most varied and illustrious careers of any 20th century cartoonist. For over 40 years he contributed strips to The Village Voice, and has long been a regular contributor to the London Observer and Playboy. An animated cartoon based on his story Munro received an academy award in 1961. In the sixties, he branched into theater, writing several now regarded as classics: Little Murders; Knock, Knock; The White House Murder Case; Elliot Loves; and The Grown Ups, to name a few. Originally conceived for the stage, his Carnal Knowledge became one of the landmark films of the ’70s. He has written two prose novels, Harry the Rat with Women and Ackroyd, as well as a cartoon novel, Tantrum. In the 1990s, Feiffer embarked on yet another career, this time as a children’s book author. He has over a half dozen to his credit, including modern classics like The Man and the Ceiling.

Fantagraphics is proud to present such a wide variety of works in one comprehensive series. Volume 4 also includes Feiffer’s re telling of ‘Cinderella,’ with Marlon Brando as Prince Charming and Marilyn Monroe in the title role, and ‘Kept,’ the story of a man who discovers the secret of seduction.

Grown Ups

Comedy / 2m, 4f, 1f child / 2 Ints. An acerbic comedy by the famed cartoonist and author of KNOCK KNOCK and LITTLE MURDERS. It’s about a middle aged journalist who has, at last, grown up only to find he’s trapped in a world of emotional infants. ‘A laceratingly funny play about the strangest of human syndromes the love that kills rather than comforts. Feiffer’s vision seems merciless, but its mercy is the fierce comic clarity with which he exposes every conceivable permutation of smooth tongued cruelty…
Feiffer constructs a fiendishly complex machine of reciprocal irritation in which Jake the journalist, his parents, his wife and his sister carp, cavil, harass, hector and finally attack one another with relentless trivia and dedonate deeply buried resentments like emotional land mines…
This farce is Feiffer’s exclusive specialty, and it’s never been more harrowingly hilarious.’ Newsweek. ‘Savagely funny.’ N. Y. Times. ‘A compelling, devastating evening of theatre…
the first adult play of the season.’ Women’s Wear Daily.

The Man in the Ceiling

He’s bad at sports and not much better at school, but Jimmy sure can draw terrific cartoons. And his dream, like that of his Uncle Lester, who writes flop Broadway musicals’is to be recognized for what he loves doing most.

1993 Books for Youth Editors’ Choices BL
1993 Choices: The Year’s Best Books Publishers Weekly
Children’s Books of 1993 Library of Congress
1994 Books for the Teen Age NY Public Library
100 Books for Reading and Sharing 1993 NY Public Library

Bark, George

When George’s mother tells her son to bark, he meows. She patiently explains that ‘Cats go meow. Dogs go arf. Now, Bark, George.’ But he quacks! Then oinks. Then moos. Becoming less patient and more exasperated, George’s mom takes him to the vet, who reaches deep down inside the errant pup, and, much to everyone’s surprise, pulls out a cat! Then a duck, a pig, and finally a cow. George is cured, and barks at last! On the way home, his proud mother wants to show off her convincingly doglike son to everyone on the street. But when she says, ‘Bark, George,’ he simply says, ‘Hello.’ This is the simplest offering yet from Jules Feiffer creator of the delightful picture books Meanwhile and I Lost My Bear. Still, his cartoonish drawings are intensely expressive, alive, and hilarious. None of it will be lost on the youngest of readers who will giggle every time George fails to bark, every time the vet extracts a new animal, and at the final punchline, too. In a world of often overdone or underdone picture books, this fine Feiffer creation is just right.

Meanwhile….

Raymond, I want you! Just when Raymond is in the middle of a comic book, his mother calls him. Not once but five times. It’s not fair! Raymond thinks. Then he thinks: What if I had my own Meanwhile….
? Comic books always use Meanwhile….
to change the scene. So Raymond tries writing it on the wall behind his bed. To his astonishment, Raymond discovers that he can Meanwhile….
from one perilous adventure to another’from pirates on the high seas, to Martians in outer space, to a posse and a mountain lion out West. Then, at the worst possible moment, Raymond’s Meanwhile….
fails him, leaving him in a spot that spells certain doom! Unless…
Raymond, I want you! Raymond is reading a comic book when his mother calls him, not once but five times! It’s not fair! Raymond thinks. Then: What if I had my own Meanwhile….
? Comic books always use Meanwhile….
to change the scene. So Raymond tries writing it on the wall behind his bed. To his astonishment, Raymond discovers that he can Meanwhile….
from one perilous adventure to another from pirates on the high seas, to Martians in outer space, to a posse and a mountain lion out West. Then, at the worst possible moment, Raymond s Meanwhile….
fails him, leaving him in a spot that spells certain doom! Unless…

I Lost My Bear

It’s not under the bed, or on the chair, or beneath the couch, or behind the curtains. It’s GONE!What do you do when your favorite toy disappears, and you can’t find it where you left it? What if your family is NO help at all? A determined little detective heads up the search, and discovers more than she ever expected!No one will help look for Bearsy. Mom’s too busy. Dad’s reading, and Sister’s grumpy. But when Jules Feiffer’s spunky hero*ine strikes out on her own to find her favorite stuffed toy, she discovers much more than anyone ever expected! With a simple text and bold, expressive pictures, here is a playful salute to a girl who won’t give up. 00 01 Young Reader’s Choice Award Program Masterlist

I’m Not Bobby!

‘Someone’s calling Bobby. I’m not Bobby. I’m a lion.’ Bobby’s parents are trying to get his attention, but Bobby is something else. For example, he’s a monster, an airplane, a dinosaur. Anything but Bobby. It’s not long before Bobby turns himself into an eagle soaring away with Mom, Dad, and every other grown up in his life chasing after him. But after a daring escape into outer space, Bobby gets hungry and returns to Earth to claim his dinner. This hilarious escape story rings true to every child’s struggle for independence not to mention a full tummy.

By the Side of the Road

Master cartoonist and author Jules Feiffer takes a common familyscenario and plays it out to the hilarious end in his delightful, over the toppicture book By the Side of the Road. ‘ If you don t behave, my fathersaid, I m gonna pull over right here, and you can wait By the Side of the Roadtill we come and get you. ‘ Little brother Rudy decides to cooperate, whileolder brother Richard chooses to wait By the Side of the Road: ‘ An hour later Iwas kind of used to it. Two hours later it was where I wanted to live. ‘ Threehours later, his family comes back for him, but he’s not ready to go. He s notready the next time, either, but does accept a hamburger. And a sweater. Eventually, he is living full time By the Side of the Road, aided by mother andfather only occasionally dropping by with a poncho or a snowsuit, or a house,tutor, and generator, depending upon the season. Richard s elaborate tunnelsystem for storing ‘ secret stuff’ from comic books to ‘ bottles thrown out of carwindows’ is straight out of every child s wildest dreams, as is hismock Thoreau style existence, free from grumpy dad and family rules but wellstocked with computer games and other essentials . Throughout this outlandish scenario Richard grows up and has his own family,still By the Side of the Road, later to be joined by his elderly parents , wethink about discipline ‘ The way he said it made me unlearn the lesson I wasright then in the middle of learning’ , about family ‘ Sometimes you have tomake concessions’ , about independence, about dependence ‘ I m hungry and I mcold’ , about loneliness, and about self sufficiency. Feiffer s expressive,fluid drawings capture every motion and emotion with just the right lines,making this crazy run on picture book a rousing success. Ages 7 and older Karin Snelson

The House Across the Street

The boy in The House Across the Street leads a fantastic life! He can sleep as late as he wants and doesn’t have to go to school if it’s raining. He’s got a swimming pool in his bedroom and a piranha for a pet. So the little boy who watches his every move from the smaller house across the way wants desperately to be his friend. But how is this possible? With imagination, everything is possible.

The Daddy Mountain

Before your very eyes, this little redhead is about to do something extremely daring. And scary. And she’ll show you she’ll actually document, step by step exactly how she does it. First, she takes her Daddy and makes him stand very still. Then, balancing herself on his shoe, she wraps her arms tightly around a leg and starts her perilous ascent to the summit. Thrills and chills, guaranteed. LOOK OUT BELOW!!

The Great Comic Book Heroes

Jules Feiffer’s historic essay, available again in a compact and affordable size. Fantagraphics is proud to publish Jules Feiffer’s long out of print and seminal essay of comics criticism, The Great Comic Book Heroes, in a compact and affordable size. In 1965, Feiffer wrote what is arguably the first critical history of the comic book superheroes of the late 1930s and early 1940s, including Plastic Man, Batman, Superman, The Spirit and others. In the book, Feiffer writes about the unique the place of comics in the space between high and low art and the power which this space offers both the creator and reader. The Great Comic Book Heroes is widely acknowledged to be the first book to analyze the juvenile medium of superhero comics in a critical manner, but without denying the iconic hold such works have over readers of all ages. Out of print for over 30 years, Feiffer’s book discusses the role that the patriotic superhero played during World War II in shaping the public spirit of civilians and soldiers, as well as the escapist power these stories held over the zeitgeist of America. With wit and insight Feiffer discusses what The Great Comic Book Heroes meant to him as a child and later as an artist.

Explainers: The Complete Village Voice Strips (1956-1966)

The first of four volumes collecting Feiffer’s landmark Village Voice strips.

‘My aim was to take the Robert Benchley hero and launch him into the Age of Freud.’ Jules Feiffer

In 1956, a relatively unknown cartoonist by the name of Jules Feiffer started contributing a strip to the only alternative weekly published in the US, a small radical newspaper called The Village Voice. It was originally titled Sick Sick Sick, but Feiffer changed the name to, simply, Feiffer, because he got tired of explaining that the title referred to the society he was commenting on, not the nature of his humor, which, he insisted, was not sick.

Politically, the ’50s was dominated by the insipid Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower; the backwash of Joe McCarthy; and the Cold War, which was in full swing. Culturally, the Beats were revolutionizing literature, Marlon Brando was changing the face of acting, and Elvis Presley was altering the public’s perception of pop music. The post war suburban bliss of the country was being challenged by sociologists and economists in books like The Lonely Crowd, The Other America, and The Afflulent Society. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum. Camelot was just around the corner, and would be shattered by the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK. The Vietnam War would polarize the country. It was into this scrambled political cultural climate that Jules Feiffer flung himself full throttle for the next ten years.

His strip tackled just about every issue, private and public, that affected the sentient American: relationships, sexuality, love, family, parents, children, psychoanalysis, neuroses, presidents, politicians, media, race, class, labor, religion, foreign policy, war, and one or two other existential questions. It was the first time that the American public had been subjected to a weekly dose of comics that so uncompromisingly and wittily confronted individuals’ private fears and society’s public transgressions. Explainers is the first of four volumes collecting Feiffer’s entire run of weekly strips from The Village Voice. This edition contains approximately 500 strips originally published between 1956 and 1966 in a brick like landscape hardcover format.

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Backing Into Forward

The award winning cartoonist, playwright, and author delivers a witty, illustrated rendition of his life, from his childhood as a wimpy kid in the Bronx to his legendary career in the arts. A gifted storyteller who has delighted readers and theater audiences for decades, Jules Feiffer now turns his talents to the tale of his own life. Plagued by learning problems, a controlling mother, and a debilitating sense of fear, Feiffer embarked on his first cartoon apprenticeship at the age of seventeen, emboldened only by a passion for success and an aptitude for failure. He vividly recalls those transformative years working under the legendary Will Eisner, and later, after he was drafted into the army, his evolution from smart ass kid into an enraged satirist. Backing Into Forward also traces Feiffer’s love life, from a doomed hitchhiking trip to reclaim his high school sweetheart to losing his virginity in Greenwich Village, and his road to marriage and fatherhood. At the center of this journey is Feiffer’s prolific creativity. In dazzling detail, he recounts the birth of his subversive graphic novella Munro, his entr e into New York’s literary salons, collaborations with film greats Mike Nichols, Robert Altman, and Jack Nicholson, and other major turning points. Brim*ming with wry punch lines, slices of Americana, and pithy social commentary, Backing Into Forward charts Feiffer’s rise as an unlikely and incisive provocateur during the conformist fifties and the Vietnam and Civil Rights sixties and seventies.

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